SBI Holdings Inc. plans to increase capital and business tie-ups with regional banks, the president of the internet banking giant said in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday.
"[Negotiations] have proceeded smoothly. The regional banks will make decisions based on their financial results," SBI Holdings President Yoshitaka Kitao said.
Kitao has formed a series of capital and business tie-ups with regional banks and plans to expand the number from the current 4 to a maximum of 10.
Since September 2019, SBI has formed capital and business alliances with Shimane Bank Ltd. (Matsue), Fukushima Bank Ltd. (Fukushima), Chikuho Bank Ltd. (Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture) and Shimizu Bank Ltd. (Shizuoka).
Many of the regional banks participating in the alliance have been suffering from sluggish earnings. Shimane Bank and Shimizu Bank logged net losses in the fiscal year that ended in March 2020.
Kitao said the aim of the alliance is to "provide our asset management know-how and technology to help them recover." He also said the alliance would reduce costs by standardizing the development of core banking systems and measures to prevent money laundering.
However, "As the number of operational experts, engineers and other personnel is limited, the maximum number of banks will be limited to 10," he said.
Kitao has a good relationship with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and is said to hold similar views on the realignment of regional banks.
However, on Suga's goal of restructuring regional banks and the alliance pursued by SBI Holdings, Kitao said: "I think the direction is quite different. It's obvious to anyone that there are too many [regional banks], but I don't propose mergers."
Amid declining populations and shrinking economies in regional areas, he stressed that restructuring "is a matter for the banks to decide for themselves."
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