Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) is considering to acquire majority stake in the investment banking joint venture with Daiwa Securities Group – reported Yomiuri newspaper. At present the Japan’s banking major holds 40% stake in Daiwa and the Tokyo-based bank seeks to increase its stake to 67%.
Earlier in this May, it agreed to buy Citigroup’s retail brokerage unit in Japan, in addition to its investment banking businesses in Tokyo for about $6 billion, reported Reuters.
Citigroup is expected to transfer about 200 investment banking staff, including debt and equity capital market staff and bankers in energy, consumer and technology industries to Sumitomo. According to the newspaper, SMFG seeks to merge the acquired wholesale operations with Daiwa Securities.
