Japan

Taiwan’s Chinatrust is in talks to take over Tokyo Star Bank for US$580M.

Sells entire stake to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Fitch Ratings sees no major recovery in domestic earnings.

Rating is now stable from negative.

Thomson Reuters survey confirms dominance.

I was at SIBOS, Osaka, Japan, last week, and it was a pleasure to meet several bankers across the world. Moreover, as the event was held in the Asia Pacific, there was a very good representation from the Asian Banking and Finance Community–a very good blend of banks, IT vendors, regulators, monetary agencies, Clearing and Settlement houses, depositories, and so on.

Blame it on exposure to troubled electronics manufacturers.

Illegal transfer suspected through phishing.

NTT DoCoMo has partnered with MasterCard Worldwide to enable its smartphone users to make contactless electronic payments in other countries.

The Japanese bank that pioneered card-free ATM transactions in Japan is expanding the service into neighboring prefectures.

Two of Japan's largest banks are heading the US$2.7 billion rescue of the bankrupt electronics giant.

Japan's Mizuho Financial Group admitted a securities valuation loss of some US$2 billion for the third quarter.

A regional bank in Gifu Prefecture now allows customers to withdraw cash, make deposits and check account balances through simple palm scans.

Nomura Holdings, Inc is reorganizing its global finance unit in Asia outside of Japan as part of a continuing overhaul of Japan’s biggest brokerage.

The Bank of Japan has extended its asset-purchasing scheme by US$128 billion to boost the moribund economy.

Tadahiro Matsushita, Minister of the Financial Services Agency, the banking industry regulator, committed suicide Monday.