Tag - banks

 
 

BANKS

Norinchukin Bank is one of Japan’s largest institutional investors with a ¥55.9 trillion ($357 billion) securities portfolio, and bonds make up more than half of its investments.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2024
Norinchukin weighs $7.7 billion fundraise to cover bond loss
As a result of restructuring its securities portfolio, the Tokyo-based bank may book about ¥500 billion in losses for the current fiscal year, one source said.
Japan's banks are benefiting from the Bank of Japan's policy shift and strong loan demand among their corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Japan’s biggest banks forecast record profits as rates rise
The banks are benefiting from an earnings boost following the Bank of Japan’s policy shift in March.
French President Emmanuel Macron during an interview on the fringes of the Choose France summit in Versailles, France, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024
Macron puts French banks in play with plan to transform Europe
Macron has been trying to persuade his EU partners to embrace reforms that he says would turn the bloc into a more united and powerful economic force.
Special fraud cases in Tokyo in which stolen money was sent via online banking services grew some fivefold from the previous year in 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2024
Money stolen via online transfers up fivefold in Tokyo
Since many people use online banking services on a daily basis, the number of fraud cases involving such services is expected to grow.
A Towa Bank employee's suicide in 2017 has been recognized as a work-related accident.
JAPAN / Society
May 8, 2024
Towa Bank employee suicide linked to overwork and harassment
Findings from the Labor Standards Inspection Office showed the man was under extreme stress due to unmanageable work pressures.
Major banks as well as regional banks have raised their ordinary deposit rates to 0.02% per annum from 0.001%.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024
Many banks in Japan raise deposit rates after BOJ action
Banks have also refrained from raising their lending rates, which would affect households and other corporate activities.
Nomura Holdings and Mizuho Bank are hit by more than $100 million of potential losses related to All Blue Capital, raising questions about their monitoring of high-risk investment funds.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024
Nomura and Mizuho face losses after fund’s failed trades
The size of the potential losses raises questions about the risk-management practices at two of Japan’s largest banks.
Claudio de Sanctis, head of private bank at Deutsche Bank AG, during an interview in Singapore, on April 18
BUSINESS / Companies
May 3, 2024
Deutsche Bank unveils wealth targets after hiring push in Asia
Private banks are turning to the Middle East and Southeast Asia amid China's property crisis and a downturn in capital-market activity in Hong Kong.
The plaintiff in the case against Mizuho Bank had sought about ¥33 million in damages, including wages he should have received.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2024
Mizuho ordered to pay ¥3.3 million to ex-employee over labor dispute
The bank had — citing problematic behavior — told him to stay home at reduced pay without any work for five years.
Despite the potential benefits AI might have for bank customers, like finding the best interest rates, there are concerns about the destabilizing effects it may have on financial stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024
Generative AI is coming for your bank. Maybe.
Tech investors reckon that supersmart agents will soon upend the business model of traditional banks, but there are caveats.
Signage for MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking in Tokyo. A coalition of climate groups filed shareholder proposals with the three banks calling for stricter board oversight of climate-related risks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Climate investors target board oversight of top Japan banks: sources
The proposal marks the first time climate groups have targeted bank boards as a way to pressure the lenders on climate change.
Global banks are responding to increased demand for information about Japan’s companies and markets amid a resurgent stock market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024
Global banks ramp up roadshows for clients eager to bet on Japan
Foreign investors bought the most Japanese equities since 2013, last week.
Flames blaze from a chimney at Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas plant, Hammerfest LNG, in Hammerfest, Norway, on March 14.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 9, 2024
Banks made big climate promises. A new study doubts they work.
Researchers found a reduction in lending to sectors targeted under the pledges was the same as for banks that had not made the same commitment.
Akihiro Fukutome, head of the Japanese Bankers Association, said new takeover guidelines from the industry ministry last year have helped lower psychological hurdles associated with unsolicited bids.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Japan's banks less hesitant with hostile takeovers, lobby chief says
His comments offer evidence of a sea change in Japan — which once shunned hostile bids — that has helped bring it closer to Western-style dealmaking.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
Rakuten considers combining financial units
A proposed IPO of its securities unit may not proceed if the integration is realized, while the banking arm is expected to remain listed.
International bankers in Tokyo say their compensation remain a fraction of pay in other financial hubs despite booming markets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2024
Bonuses at Japan's global banks underwhelm despite booming markets
Bonuses at international investment banks fell by about 10% on average in Tokyo for 2023, bankers and recruiters have said.
The Central business district of Hong Kong. Hong Kong IPOs have dried up as stock prices slump and economic prospects wane.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2024
Once high-flying bankers in Hong Kong become a lost generation
The damage is underscored by the barrage of layoffs, the retreat of global capital, and the city’s diminishing role as an international financial center.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. A survey by Bloomberg indicates a majority of analysts surveyed doesn’t expect another rate hike as a base case, but plenty of others are warning that the BOJ may not be finished.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 20, 2024
Investors and economists split on whether BOJ will raise rates again
By moving in March instead of the consensus view of April, Gov. Kazuo Ueda secured space to raise borrowing costs again if data supports the case.
Goldman Sachs is exiting transaction banking in Japan, less than a year after announcing plans to enter the business
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024
Goldman Sachs exits Japan transaction banking in sudden reversal
The bank will remain focused on growing its transaction banking operations in the U.S., U.K. and European Union, according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it is already managing to enhance its tolerance to an anticipated rise in yen interest rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2024
Japan’s biggest bank readies for BOJ shift on rate policy within weeks
Hiroyuki Seki, head of global markets business at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, predicts that the BOJ will raise rates not once but twice by October.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?