TOKYO -- Japanese megabank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will bring an affiliated asset management company under the control of its main banking unit and merge two of its brokerages in a bid to strengthen its retail finance business.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. will turn Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management, in which it already has a 40% stake, into a subsidiary as early as the summer. The bank will acquire an additional 7.5% interest each from Sumitomo Life Insurance and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, as well as Mitsui Life Insurance's entire 5% stake in the asset management company.
