Last month’s proposal of marriage between MTFG and UFJ would create the largest bank in Japan, but it will only be positive news if the two businesses can be integrated, writes Geraldine Lambe
For the Japanese banking system, recuperation has been a long and painful process. It is only now, after more than a decade of despair, that Japan’s so-called mega-banks are ready to start performing as mega-banks should.

Asia Pacific’s geographical diversity makes the idea of a regional approach to custody seem far-fetched. But, as Francis Maguire reports, if the Japanese market can be cracked, then a regional solution may be possible.

The government’s rescue of Ashikaga regional bank illustrates that, while Japan’s economic outlook has improved, there are still areas of concern.

With Japan’s economic problems having the potential to wreak havoc on a global scale, Japan’s banks must haul themselves out of a hole of their own making, reports Anthony Rowley in Tokyo.

The recent wave of banking mergers will create some of the largest banks in the world. They also reveal a determination to compete at a world-class level.