Government intervention shows that there is real cause for concern.

Have the big Japanese banks been over-cautious about buying stakes in troubled western peers?

Today, Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ group announced its intention to acquire a stake of up to 20% in Morgan Stanley. In an interview for Euromoney’s September edition, MUFJ’s chief executive Nobuo Kuroyanagi spoke about the bank’s intention to take advantage of opportunities presented by the global credit crunch. We publish exclusive excerpts here.

The chief executives of 11 of the world's biggest banks discuss the lessons they have learnt from the global financial crisis, their concerns over a regulatory backlash, and how they plan to rebuild profitability in the toughest markets in history.

Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Company and Brazil’s Bradesco Asset Management have agreed to set up a mutual fund that will invest in Brazilian bonds.

Nobuo Kuroyanagi, president and CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group president, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Yasumasa Gomi, chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

Japan still boasts the world’s second-largest economy but its investment banking markets remain immature compared with western peers. In two articles, Euromoney spoke to key bankers in Tokyo about the economic renaissance and what it means for investment banking in Japan. Chris Leahy reports.

Two unconnected events in the Byzantine world of Japanese banking indicate some progress, albeit slow, in the reform of this troubled sector.

Akira Watanabe was the pioneer of derivatives in Japan and founded many of Mitsubishi's investment-banking activities. Now he aims to double the size of Tokyo-Mitsubishi International within the next three years and challenge Nomura International's supremacy among Japan's global investment banks.

At the west exit of Tokyo station, where real estate is among the most expensive anywhere, throngs of blue-suited business-men pour out every working morning, wearing company pins emblazoned with perhaps Japan's most recognisable company logo: three diamonds. This is Mitsubishi territory. The buildings on all sides house various manifestations of Japan's biggest zaibatsu (industrial grouping). And high above it all stands Mitsubishi Bank.