TOKYO, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Mizuho Financial Group Inc’s
third-quarter net profit soared more than 10 times
after a year-end rally in the Japanese stock market pushed up
the value of its massive equity portfolio.

Japan’s financial institutions have benefited from a nearly
20 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei average through
the final three months of 2012, powered by investor expectations
for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policies of massive fiscal
spending, aggressive monetary easing and a weaker yen.

TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
Inc plans to speed expansion in Asia via its
non-banking units like consumer finance and credit, hoping to
lure the region’s retail clients, the head of Japan’s
third-largest lender by assets said.

“What we have in mind is sales finance for cars, air
conditioners and TVs in Southeast Asia. It does not have to be
(done by our core bank) SMBC. We can use a vehicle best suited
for the purpose,” Koichi Miyata, president of SMFG, told
Reuters in an embargoed interview conducted on Friday.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sumitomo Life Insurance Co SMTLI.UL said on Thursday it is buying HSBC Holding’s (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 18 percent stake in Vietnamese insurer Baoviet Holdings BVH.HM for about $340 million, the latest Japanese acquisition in Southeast Asia.

Faced with weak growth prospects at home and a strong yen, Japanese banks and insurers are stepping up overseas expansion.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ plans to buy 20 percent of VietinBank CTG.HM from the Vietnamese government for about 60 billion yen ($720 million), a source close to the deal said, as Japan’s cash-rich big banks expand into fast-growing Southeast Asian markets.

The deal by the core retail and commercial bank of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for a stake in Vietnam’s second-largest partly private lender will mean all three of Japan’s megabanks have a stake in Vietnam’s wobbly banking sector.

TOKYO, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
UFJ plans to buy 20 percent of VietinBank from the
Vietnamese government for about 60 billion yen ($720 million), a
source close to the deal said, as Japan’s cash-rich big banks
expand into fast-growing Southeast Asian markets.

The deal by the core retail and commercial bank of
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) for a stake
in Vietnam’s second-largest partly private lender will mean all
three of Japan’s megabanks have a stake in Vietnam’s wobbly
banking sector.

TOKYO/JAKARTA, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Japan’s Dai-ichi Life
Insurance Co Ltd and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Co
are among the companies shortlisted to buy a minority stake in
Indonesia’s Panin Life for about $200 million, sources said.

Controlled by Indonesia’s powerful Gunawan family, PT Panin
Financial is planning to sell an up to 40 percent
stake in its life insurance unit. The shortlisted firms have
been asked to submit binding bids by the end of this month, said
the sources, who had direct knowledge of the deal.

By Taiga Uranaka and Saeed Azhar

(Reuters) – Japan’s biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is among the first round bidders for General Electric’s (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $1.5 billion stake in Thailand’s fifth-largest lender, Bank of Ayudhya BAY.BK, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Suitors of GE’s Thai bank stake are seeking a foothold in one of Asia’s fastest growing economies. They are expected to seek full control of the bank, which is also Thailand’s No. 1 retail bank with a $5.9 billion market value.

Nov 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group, is among the first round bidders for
General Electric’s $1.5 billion stake in Thailand’s
fifth-largest lender, Bank of Ayudhya, sources told
Reuters on Thursday.

Suitors of GE’s Thai bank stake are seeking a foothold in
one of Asia’s fastest growing economies. They are expected to
seek full control of the bank, which is also Thailand’s No. 1
retail bank with a $5.9 billion market value.

TOKYO, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Japan’s three mega banks posted
earnings that were dragged down by heavy losses on their equity
portfolios, renewing investor concerns about the practice of
lenders holding stakes in clients including the country’s
money-losing electronics makers.

Combined stock-related losses at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group (MUFG), Mizuho Financial Group and
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) more than
tripled in April-September from a year earlier as the benchmark
Nikkei average declined 12 percent over the six-month period.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Cash-rich Japanese banks are rushing into aircraft finance in the hope of getting fatter profit margins than straight corporate loans.

Banks including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (SMFG) (8316.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are also venturing into aircraft leasing as more airlines opt out of owning fleets in favor of leaner balance sheets.