Banks
Japanese banks first established operations in London in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to support Japan’s overseas trade and gain knowledge of modern financial and commercial practices. Japan was rapidly industrializing after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and many of the banks worked closely with the Japanese government on their modernization programme. The banks and their sister companies, the trading companies, are a core part of what is known as the zaikai – the Japanese finance and business community which has power and influence in Japanese political circles to this day.
The Yokohama Specie Bank, founded by Japanese statesman Ōkuma Shigenobu and a group of Yokohama merchants in 1879, opened in London in 1881. After World War II, it reformed as the Bank of Tokyo and later merged with Mitsubishi Bank in 1996.
Mitsubishi Bank had also started in the 19th century, as the currency exchange arm of the Mitsubishi trading company, and then took over the 119th National Bank. Mitsui Bank and Sumitomo Bank were also offshoots of their respective trading companies. The three banks all had operations in London before World War II, which closed down during wartime, and reopened in the 1950s.
Fuji Bank, on the other hand, was far more domestic oriented, with no overseas branches, although it, too, grew from a trading company – Yasuda. It was the biggest bank in Japan until the Dai-ichi Bank merged with the Nippon Kangyo bank in 1971 to form the Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank (DKB).
After the bubble burst
In the 20th century, up until the Japanese economic bubble burst in 1990, the main bank system dominated, whereby major Japanese companies stayed loyal to one of the megabanks. The megabanks were the primary lender among a hierarchy of several banks to one firm and typically held shares in the firm. Main banks would send in advisors in times of financial distress and provide corporate governance to their client firms. The main banks were Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Sumitomo Bank, Fuji Bank, Mitsubishi Bank, and Sanwa Bank – all of whom also had a large retail banking arm.
They were in turn part of a keiretsu – groups of companies with similar origins, holding shares in each other – the four major groups being Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Fuyo (formerly Yasuda).
The Sanwa Bank was at the heart of the post war Sanwa group, which functioned as a financial, Osaka based keiretsu for companies that were not part of the four major groups. Osaka was traditionally the business, merchant capital of Japan and the historic base for the Sumitomo keiretsu. Another keiretsu, based around DKB bank included the Osaka based trading company Itochu and what is now called Sojitz. Mitsui and Mitsubishi were Tokyo based keiretsu.
After the bubble burst, and intensifying after the Asian financial crisis of 1997, a wave of restructuring and mergers hit the Japanese financial services sector. Mitsui Bank merged with Taiyo Kobe Bank in 1990 and became Sakura Bank. Then, despite coming from different keiretsu and different regions of Japan, Sumitomo Bank merged with Sakura Bank, in 2001 and became the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The name in Japanese is reversed, as Mitsui Sumitomo Banking Corporation. The whole group is known as SMFG.
DKB merged with Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ) in 2000-2002 to form the Mizuho group. In the UK, DKB UK became Mizuho Corporate Bank and IBJ UK became Mizuho International – the securities and investment banking arm.
The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi merged with Union Finance Japan (which in turn was the product of a merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank and Toyo Trust and Banking) in 2002 to become the MUFG group.
Given the above history, the following challenges are still being faced by the Japanese megabank groups, MUFG, SMFG and Mizuho:
- Strategic clashes between a dominant domestic retail banking business and smaller overseas corporate banking, investment banking and securities businesses
- Overseas customer bases are still largely composed of Japanese corporate clients
- Loyalty of cohorts of executives to their original bank rather than the whole group. This should dissipate by 2040 or so, when these cohorts will have retired.
- Lack of collaboration between businesses with different origins within the group such as securities, trust banking and asset management, making it difficult to put customer needs first, with one offering, as a universal bank.
- Integration of legacy IT systems from different constituent banks
Branch status
Mizuho and MUFG in the UK have branch status – both being branches of the Japanese parent company. This has significant impact on their degree of autonomy, capital and decision making capability.
Norinchukin Bank, a financial institution established by Japanese agriculture, fishery and forestry cooperatives, is also a branch in the UK.
Government entities such as The Development Bank of Japan, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (a Japanese public financial institution and export credit agency) and the Bank of Japan all have branches in London. Bank of Japan also has branches in Frankfurt and Paris.
Securities and investment
Nomura is Japan’s largest investment bank and traces its roots to a money changing business in Osaka in the late 1800s, becoming Nomura Securities in 1925. Nomura opened its first office in London in 1964. It acquired Lehman Brother’s European and Middle Eastern operations in 2008.
Daiwa Securities started life in Osaka too, as Fujimoto Bill Broker in 1902. It became Daiwa Securities in 1943 and opened its first office in London in 1964. It had a joint venture with SMBC which was dissolved in 2009, and the company was renamed Daiwa Capital Markets. It acquired Close Brothers in the same year, forming Daiwa Corporate Advisory.
MUFG has a securities arm – MUFG Securities EMEA PLC in London, with a branch in Dubai. There is also MUFG Securities Europe in Amsterdam, with branch in Paris.
Mizuho International in London has a Mizuho Securities Europe GmbH subsidiary in Germany.
Trust Banks
Trust banking is far more common in Japan than in the West. The trust banks act as trustees for contracts between clients and provide banking and financing services alongside investment-related services such as asset management, pension plan design and management, real estate brokerage, and appraisal services for both corporate and individual banking clients.
The Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank is not within the SMFG group. It has been winding down its limited company in London, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust (UK) Ltd and folding personnel into its London branch. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking is within the MUFG group.
Asset Management
Most of the Japanese asset management firms set up in London in the 1980s bubble era but are now having a second lease of life, thanks to the Japanese government policy of encouraging households to shift their cash savings into investments and promoting Japan as a “Leading Asset Management Center.”
Leasing and Financing
Another asset that Japan’s high net wealth individuals have shown an appetite for is aircraft, which are then leased. A large number of Japanese aircraft leasing companies have set up in Ireland, due to its highly favourable tax regime for lease payments.
In the UK, Japanese leasing and financing businesses have been more focused on consumer markets. Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance has become Mitsubishi HC Capital, following its merger with Hitachi Capital in 2021. It trades in the UK under the Novuna brand. In 2022 Mitsubishi HC Capital UK acquired the European subsidiaries of MHC Mobility, providing leasing, decarbonisation and mobility solutions across Europe.
SMBC and Mizuho also have leasing arms in Europe, as do the car companies Toyota and Honda, along with financing services.
Fuyo Lease, which has its roots in the Fuyo group companies, has two subsidiaries in the UK and Orix has also has two subsidiaries in the UK including Gravis Capital Management – as well as an aircraft leasing business in Ireland.
Fintech, cryptocurrency
Nomura has invested in a digital asset subsidiary, Laser Digital, in the UK in 2022. It specializes in trading, asset management, solutions and early-stage investing, employing 28 people.
The Japanese crypto assets exchange bitFlyer set up in Luxembourg in 2017 and was granted a Payment Institution licence in 2018.
It was announced in January 2025 that SBI Holdings has agreed to take a stake of more than 70% in German fintech company Solaris as part of a new fundraising round. SBI acquired British crypto currency company B2C2 in 2020.
Non-life Insurance Companies
Japanese non-life insurance companies also have their origins in Japan’s trading companies. Like the banks, the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble in 1990, and then the Asian financial crisis of 1997, triggered a series of restructuring.
Although word Mitsubishi does not appear anywhere on Tokio Marine’s website, it is a core Mitsubishi group company, which began direct underwriting operations in London in 1880 and established local agents there in 1890. It acquired the UK insurance company Kiln in 2008 and the Bermuda headquartered HCC Holdings in 2015.
The Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Aio Nissay Dowa group (MS&AD), has, like SMFG, its origins in the Sumitomo and Mitsui keiretsus, but is independent from SMFG.
MS&AD was formed in 2010 as a merger of three insurance companies – Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Aioi and Nissay Dowa. Aioi was the product of a 2001 merger between Dai-Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance and The Chiyoda Fire & Marine Insurance. Nissay Dowa was formed, also in 2001, from Dowa Fire & Marine Insurance and Nissay General Insurance. MS&AD acquired British insurer Amlin in 2015/6. Aioi has had a long standing relationship with Toyota for car insurance, reinforced by the historic relationship between the Mitsui & Co trading company and Toyota.
Sompo was formed from the merger of Yasuda Fire & Marine and Nissan Fire & Marine insurance companies in 2002. Sompo then went on to acquire Nipponkoa in 2014. It acquired British insurer Canopius in 2014 and divested it in 2017. It then acquired Bermuda based insurers Endurance Specialty in 2016/7.
Life Insurance
The Mitsubishi group life insurance company is Meiji Yasuda, the product of a merger between Meiji Life and Yasuda Mutual Life in 2004. The latter was previously in the Fuyo keiretsu – which included the Marubeni trading company.
Dai-ichi Life was formerly a sister company of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, now part of Mizuho.
Nippon Life is the largest Japanese life insurance company by revenue and was affiliated with the Sanwa group.
All have had a relatively small presence in London but have recently been active in acquiring overseas companies – Meiji Life acquiring American Heritage Life in 2024/5, Nippon Life acquiring Bermuda based, UK origin Resolution Life in 2024/5 and Dai-ichi Life acquiring New Zealand’s Partners Life in 2022.
This is an excerpt from our 2025 report on Japanese Financial Services in the UK and EMEA, with a directory of 300 Japanese financial services companies in the region – which can be purchased and downloaded online here
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