Barclays in Japanese wealth management deal
UK banking giant Barclays and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said they would launch a wealth management joint venture in Japan, targeting individuals with at least 500 million yen (£3.8m) to invest.
Japan’s third-largest bank by assets acquired a two per cent stake in Barclays for about $1bn in 2008 and the two have been preparing to start a private banking business in Japan.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, a core unit of SMFG, has a 50.1 per cent stake in the joint venture and a Barclays unit holds the rest, they said in a statement.
SMBC and Nikko Cordial Securities, the Japanese banking group’s brokerage arm, will tap Barclays’ asset management know-how to offer services in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama, they said.