| Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. | |
| Native Name: | 株式会社三菱UFJフィナンシャル・グループ |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Romanized Name: | Kabushiki gaisha Mitsubishi Yūefujei Finansharu Gurūpu |
| Type: | Public (Kabushiki gaisha) |
| Traded As: |
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| Foundation: | (by merger) |
| Location City: | 2-7-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo |
| Location Country: | Japan |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Key People: | Kanetsugu Mike Hironori Kamezawa |
| Industry: | Financial services |
| Revenue: | JP¥4.495 trillion (2013)[1] |
| Net Income: | JP¥1.069 trillion (2013) |
| Aum: | 684 billion (2022)[2] |
| Assets: | 3.1 trillion (2020)[3] |
| Equity: | JP¥10.608 trillion (2013) |
| Owner: | Mitsubishi Group |
| Num Employees: | 168,500 (2020)[4] |
is a Japanese bank holding and financial services company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.[5]
It is Japan's largest financial group and one of the world's ten largest bank holding companies holding around US$1.5 trillion (JP¥227 trillion) in deposits as of April 2024[6] . The letters MUFG come from Mitsubishi and United Financial of Japan. MUFG holds assets of around US$2.7 trillion as of 2024 and is one of the "Three Great Houses" of the Mitsubishi Group,[7] alongside Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The company was formed on 1 October 2005, with the merger of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group (MTFG), and Osaka-based UFJ Holdings.
The core banking units of the group, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank, were merged on 1 January 2006, to form MUFG Bank. This integration was originally scheduled to take place on 1 October 2005, the same day that the parent companies were merged. However, pressure from Japan's Financial Services Agency, which wanted to ensure the smooth systems integration of the two banking giants, caused the merger of the banks to be postponed for three months. The trust banking and securities units of MTFG and UFJ were merged according to the original schedule on 1 October 2005.
On 31 October 2018, MUFG to acquire Australian Asset Manager, Colonial First State Global Asset Management.[8]
The financial group dates back to 1880 as the Yokohama Specie Bank, later renamed to The Bank of Tokyo. Also in 1880, The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd., was founded by former samurai Yataro Iwasaki. In 1919, the Mitsubishi Bank financed the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, most of which is today Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. After the Second World War the Mitsubishi Keiretsu was broken up under US imposed laws, and Mitsubishi Bank took on greater independence, albeit still central to the financing of the growth of the Mitsubishi group of companies.
In April 1996, The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd., and The Bank of Tokyo, Ltd., merged. The Bank of Tokyo had been set up by the Japanese Government to act as Japan's international bank, and solely responsible for all Yen forex trading. Uniquely in Japan, with no keiretsu, Bank of Tokyo was an ideal partner for Mitsubishi Bank, complementing the latter' strong domestic franchise with a unique international footprint. Additionally, during Japan's lost decade of economic stagnation, this marriage of two relatively strong banks was seen as a positive step in cleaning up the country's moribund banking sector.
In July 2004, Japan's fourth-largest financial group UFJ Holdings offered to merge with the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group. The merger of the two bank holding companies was completed on 1 October 2005. UFJ was created from a merger with the Toyo Trust and Banking. UFJ was accused by the government of corruption and making bad loans to the yakuza crime syndicates.
The takeover of UFJ by the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group was challenged by the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Group, another of Japan's large banking groups, which launched a competing takeover bid. The Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group ultimately prevailed in the fight to acquire UFJ. The battle between the two Japanese mega-banks seemed to signal an end to the clubby atmosphere that had prevailed in Japan's postwar banking industry.[12]
The trust banking and securities units of the two groups were merged on 1 October 2005. The core banking units of MTFG and UFJ, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank, respectively, continued to operate separately until 1 January 2006, when they were merged to form MUFG Bank.
In September 2008, MUFG signed a letter of intent with Morgan Stanley to form an alliance and purchase 20% of the American firm.[13]
In 2008 at the 2008 ALB Japan Law Awards,[14] Mitsubishi UFJ was crowned:
In April 2011, MUFG and Morgan Stanley entered into an agreement to convert MUFG's outstanding convertible preferred stock in Morgan Stanley into Morgan Stanley stock.[15]
was one of Japan's largest banks ranked by assets (an estimated US$1 trillion), second only to Mizuho Holdings. On 1 October 2005, MTFG completed the acquisition of UFJ Holdings, Japan's fourth largest banking group, to form the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), the world's largest bank ranked by assets with ¥190 trillion (approximately $1.7 trillion).
MTFG was widely considered financially the strongest of Japan's large banks, with non-performing loans down to 2.9% of assets.
UFJ Holdings, Inc. (株式会社UFJホールディングス; kabushikigaisha UFJ hōrudingusu) was the weakest among the three major banking groups in Japan. UFJ, an abbreviation of United Financial of Japan, was formed from a merger of Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank with the Toyo Trust & Banking Co. Ltd, a part of the Toyota Motor Corporation. At the time, it was one of the largest shareholders of Toyota. The Chairman of Toyota was a director on its board during the financial scandals and indictments of three UFJ executives. The banking crisis led to its merger, after being one of the world's greatest losing corporations, on 1 October 2005, with the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group to form the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Formed 1 April 2001, with the merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank, and Toyo Trust and Banking.
In July 2004, UFJ announced plans to merge with the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group. The merger was completed on 1 October 2005, creating the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the world's second biggest bank by assets at $1.7 trillion, trailing behind Citigroup with $2.4 trillion in assets.
In June 2011, MUFG took a 9.99 percent stake in Lynas Corp, an Australian rare earths developer.[16]
As of 31 March 2013:
| Investment trusts managed by the Japan Trustee Services Bank | 7.47% | |
| Investment trusts managed by The Master Trust Bank of Japan | 4.44% | |
| Nippon Life | 2.01% | |
| ADR Holders (held by the Bank of New York Mellon) | 1.94% | |
| State Street | 1.53% | |
| State Street (China clients) | 1.27% | |
| Meiji Yasuda Life | 1.23% | |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. London Secs Lending Omnibus Account | 1.14% | |
| Toyota | 1.05% |