The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
株式会社三菱東京UFJ銀行
Subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Industry Financial services
Predecessor The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd.
UFJ Bank, Ltd.
Founded January 1, 2006
(The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd.: August 25, 1919)
(The Sanwa Bank, Ltd.: 1933)
(The Tokai Bank, Ltd.: 1941)
Headquarters Chiyoda, Tokyo (Marunouchi 2-7-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8388, Japan), Japan
Number of locations
868 branches (as of March 31, 2009)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Katsunori Nagayasu, (President)
Services Personal banking
Corporate banking
Investment banking
Revenue ¥2.391 trillion (2009) Decrease15%
¥103.8 billion (2009) Decrease24%
Profit Decrease¥213.9 billion (2009) Decrease113%
Total assets ¥160.8 trillion (as of March 31, 2009) Increase3% from year earlier
Total equity Decrease¥6.857 trillion (as of March 31, 2009) Decrease14% from year earlier
Number of employees
33,827 (as of March 31, 2009)
Parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
Subsidiaries UnionBanCal Corporation
Senshu Ikeda Holdings, Inc.
kabu.com Securities Co., Ltd.
Website www.bk.mufg.jp/english/ (in English)
Head Office in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan (former Mitsubishi Bank headquarters)
Nihombashi Branch in Tokyo (former Bank of Tokyo headquarters)

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU; 株式会社三菱東京UFJ銀行, Kabushiki Gaisha Mitsubishi Tōkyō Yūefujē Ginkō) is the largest bank in Japan. It was established on January 1, 2006, following the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. The bank serves as the core retail, corporate, and investment banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.[1]

Its traditional client base is made up of Japanese corporates, but overseas corporate lending increased 35% in the nine months to December 31, 2011. The bank has steadily increased its tier 1 capital ratios from 7.76% in 2009 to 13.04% as reported in February 2012, and its credit ratings have been unaffected by developments in Europe. Standard & Poor’s assigned BTMU’s most recent series of senior unsecured bonds an A-plus rating (as at February 2012).[2]

As of 31 October 2010, BTMU was ranked by Bloomberg as the largest bank in Japan and the eighth largest in the world.[3]

The bank's head office is in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and it has 772 other offices in Japan and 76 offices overseas.[4]

History

Formation

BTMU is the product of three bank mergers that occurred between 1996 and 2006.

Mitsubishi Bank was founded in 1880 by a former samurai, Iwasaki Yatarō, and was a core member of the Mitsubishi Group of companies. It merged with The Bank of Tokyo in 1996 to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. (株式会社東京三菱銀行, Kabushiki kaisha tōkyō mitsubishi ginkō), which at that point was the world's largest bank in terms of total assets.[5] In 1998, upon merger of the then second and third largest Swiss banks, Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation, the newly created UBS AG became the second largest in the world at the time, behind only the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.[6] The Bank of Tokyo had historically focused on foreign exchange business since its foundation as the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1880, while Mitsubishi had had a stronger focus on domestic corporate and retail banking. Both banks were relatively healthy in the wake of the Japanese asset price bubble.[7]

Until the Tokyo-Mitsubishi merger took place in 1996, Sanwa Bank, which was based in Osaka and was the anchor of the Sanwa Group keiretsu, had been considered the strongest bank in Japan, and it had aimed to be the world's largest bank during the "bubble era".[7] By 2000, however, Sanwa was the fourth largest bank in Japan. It entered into merger talks with two other large banks, Asahi Bank and Tokai Bank, to create the world's third-largest bank by assets. Asahi (now part of Resona Holdings) pulled out of these talks later that year.[8] By 2001, The Toyo Trust & Banking Co. had been added to the merger group and the combined company was to be called United Financial Holdings of Japan.[9] The merger was completed in 2002 and the new bank was officially named UFJ Bank Ltd. (株式会社ユーエフジェイ銀行, Kabushiki kaisha yūefujei ginkō).[10] UFJ was headquartered in Nagoya, the historical headquarters of Tokai Bank. During its short life, it was plagued by bad debt problems and by infighting between the employees of its predecessor companies.

The holding companies of BTM and UFJ agreed to merge in 2005, forming Japan's largest bank by assets and market capitalization. This led to litigation between BTM and Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., which had previously agreed to an alliance with UFJ under which it would take over UFJ's trust banking operations. BTM and UFJ settled their dispute for 2.5 billion yen in late 2006.[11] The merger of the two bank holding companies was completed on October 1, 2005, creating the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The core banking units of MTFG and UFJ Holdings, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd., respectively, continued to operate separately until January 1, 2006, when the two units combined to form The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.[10]

Post-merger operations

Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo each had significant banking subsidiaries in California (Bank of California and Union Bank respectively) before their merger. At the time of the merger, these U.S. banks also merged to form UnionBanCal Corporation. BTM listed UnionBanCal on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. In 2008, BTMU purchased all of the outstanding shares of UnionBanCal. BTMU moved its New York-based banking operations to Union Bank and renamed the company MUFG Union Bank in 2014.

BTMU was investigated by New York banking regulators over its role in routing payments for Iranian customers through its New York branch in violation of U.S. sanctions. BTMU settled with the state for $250 million in 2013. A second settlement was reached for $315 million in 2014 after it was found that PricewaterhouseCoopers had altered an investigation report on the issue; PwC itself was fined $25 million in relation to the matter.[12]

Holdings

References

  1. "Products and Services: Corporate & Investment Banking". http://www.bk.mufg.jp/global/. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. External link in |website= (help)
  2. "Foreign exchange: BTMU Throws Off the Curse of the Zombie Bank". Euromoney.
  3. "Surprise, Surprise - The Biggest Bank In The World Is...". HITC:NEWS. 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  4. "About The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd." The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Retrieved on December 15, 2009.
  5. Associated Press (1 April 1996). "Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Opens for Business as World's Biggest". Deseret News. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  6. 2 of the Big 3 Swiss Banks To Join to Seek Global Heft. The New York Times, 9 December 1997
  7. 1 2 "Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. History". International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 15. St. James Press, 1996. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. Dvorak, Phred (16 June 2000). "Asahi Exits Three-Way Bank Deal, Leaving Sanwa, Tokai to Clean Up". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  9. Kennedy, Sam (28 June 2001). "Sanwa, Tokai to Merge Under New Name". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  10. 1 2 "The Origins of Our Bank". The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  11. "Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Trust settle merger row". Japan Times. AP. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  12. "Bank of Tokyo Fined for 'Misleading' New York Regulator on Iran". New York Times DealBook. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  13. "Fed give OK to Mitsubishi, Morgan Stanley deal". Reuters. October 6, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  14. "Mitsubishi UFJ buys 21% stake in Morgan Stanley". USA Today. October 13, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  15. "Morgan Stanley hangs on Mitsubishi's $9bn pledge". The Guardian. October 11, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  16. "Mitsubishi UFJ Mulls Multi-Billion Dollar U.S. Bank Acquisition". Bloomberg. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.

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