Japan

Fukuoka Financial Group and Eighteenth Bank are expected to merge in April 2019.

Sumitomo is turning to RPA to cut workloads equivalent to 4,000 employees.

Online sales and cashless payments will fill in the gap.

A system that shares information on suspicious customers and transactions is being considered.

The move comes after a bank was alleged to have charged customers illicit commissions.

The bank is now a controlling shareholder with 40% interest.

Juroku Bank and Ashikaga Bank opened a Hanoi and Bangkok unit.

He will head the team developing multinational client portfolios for 13 regional markets.

The bank aims to achieve a $2.7b asset balance in the next five years.

The move follows the exit of US from the nuclear agreement deal.

MUFG is the ninth largest bank globally with a tier 1 capital of $153.04b.

The bank aims to have around 280 financial advisers in the next three years.

Mizuho, MUFG Bank, and Sumitomo have agreed to unify QR code specifications.

The move aims to bring more Japanese SMEs to the country.

The topic being discussed most nowaday is “Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Transformation in Southeast Asia”. OECD-SEARP has been engaged in active discussions on policies to make digitalisation work for better lives and inclusive growth. Japan has actively lead those discussions. OECD has been working on a horizontal project to assess the potential and impact of digitalisation on various aspects of human lives. It is essential to recognise digital transformation as an opportunity, not as a problem.

MUFG is establishing a Riyadh subsidiary by October.