IBJ's Nishimura has a revolutionary idea
Yoshiro Yamamoto, president and CEO, The Fuji Bank, Limited
Fuji Bank had one of the more successful restructuring plans of the Japanese banks and that success had been reflected in its stock price. Why did you believe that this merger was necessary?
Look at the banking market, both internationally and in Japan: it is changing rapidly, competition is increasing both through globalization and because of Japan's Big Bang deregulation. An important factor is that information technology is becoming crucial to the performance of Japanese banks. The trend towards mega-mergers in the international markets is creating additional competition.
In Japan, there is overbanking and therefore reduced profitability. Fuji's strategy for survival in this environment was contained in the restructuring plan we presented to the government [along with the other major banks that accepted government help in recapitalization]. Phase one was the restructuring period during fiscal 1999 and 2000. During that period we were to concentrate our resources on the domestic market and focus on improving domestic market share and profitability. We would shift away from overseas markets, cutting half our overseas assets.