UFJ President Takamune Okihara (left) and MTFG President Nobuo Kuroyanagi announce the postponement of their merger in Tokyo on Aug. 12.

The closely watched merger of the two financial groups would create the world's biggest financial entity, with total assets worth ¥190 trillion.

The reason for the delay is that the two banks -- Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UFJ Bank -- want to spend more time to ensure there will be no problems when they combine their banking operations, including computer systems, the banks said.

The merger, which would make the resulting bank the largest in Japan in terms of a number of accounts managed, with some 40 million, was initially planned for Oct. 1.

Integration of their other units -- including trust banks and brokerages -- under the two major financial groups will take place Oct. 1 as scheduled.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 20, 2005
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