Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) provides a diverse range of financial services, including commercial banking, leasing, securities, consumer finance and other services.
The SMBC Group consists of SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank Ltd. (SMBC Trust Bank), Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, Limited (SMFL), SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. (SMBC Nikko Securities), Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited (Sumitomo Mitsui Card), SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. (SMBC Consumer Finance), The Japan Res...
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) provides a diverse range of financial services, including commercial banking, leasing, securities, consumer finance and other services.
The SMBC Group consists of SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank Ltd. (SMBC Trust Bank), Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, Limited (SMFL), SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. (SMBC Nikko Securities), Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited (Sumitomo Mitsui Card), SMBC Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. (SMBC Consumer Finance), The Japan Research Institute, Limited (The Japan Research Institute), Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company, Limited (SMDAM) and other subsidiaries and affiliates.
Operations and Principal Activities
Wholesale Business Unit
The Wholesale Business Unit provides comprehensive solutions primarily for corporate clients in Japan that respond to wide-ranging client needs in relation to financing, investment management, risk hedging, settlement, M&A and other advisory services, digital services, and leasing services. This business unit mainly consists of the wholesale businesses of SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank, SMFL, SMBC Nikko Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui Card which merged with SMBC Finance Service Co., Ltd. (SMBC Finance Service), formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Card, on April 1, 2024.
Financing and Investment Management
The Wholesale Business Unit provides financing services that include bilateral loans, syndicated loans, commitment lines, structured finance, project finance, nonrecourse loans to and investments in corporate customers directly or through private equity funds, securitization, debt and equity underwriting and corporate bond trustee and registrar services.
The Wholesale Business Unit also provides investment management services, such as deposits and investment trusts. In addition, this business unit offers a wide range of securities products to corporate clients through SMBC and SMBC Nikko Securities.
Risk Hedging
The Wholesale Business Unit provides various risk hedging services, including forward exchange contracts and derivatives to meet the company’s customers’ demand for hedging risks, such as interest rate risk or foreign exchange rate risk in their transactions. This business unit also provides guarantee services, including stand-by credit, performance bond and credit guarantee services.
Settlement
The Wholesale Business Unit offers a variety of products and services, including remittance, cash management, trade finance for export and import activities and supply chain finance to optimize customers’ cash flows and business flows.
In addition, this business unit provides comprehensive settlement services, including credit card issuing, merchant acquiring, collection outsourcing and factoring services for corporate customers through Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
M&A and Other Advisory Services
The Wholesale Business Unit responds to customers’ diversifying business strategies and management issues by providing solutions custom-tailored to their business characteristics and growth stage.
The Wholesale Business Unit caters to large corporate clients in their global business activities by leveraging the collective strength of SMBC Group companies. For example, SMBC and SMBC Nikko Securities support the entire deal process of cross-border M&A projects on a collaborative basis.
For mid-sized companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, the Wholesale Business Unit provides a wide range of financial services, including direct investment, LBO financing, debt restructuring, support for initial public offering and M&A advisory to enhance the company’s customers’ corporate value, working in conjunction with private equity funds as necessary. In real estate and related businesses, this business unit provides a full lineup of services, including brokerage and asset management by SMBC Trust Bank and funding support mainly by SMBC.
For start-up companies, the Wholesale Business Unit offers support in accordance with clients’ stage of growth, such as management consulting, venture investment, financing and support for initial public offerings.
For clients considering business overseas, the Wholesale Business Unit provides tailored information on local laws and regulations and on Japanese companies already present in target countries. For clients who already have business overseas, each SMBC Group company collaborates to provide high quality solutions in areas, such as business expansion and reorganization.
Digital Services
The Wholesale Business Unit supports customers’ digitalization and new business creation efforts, reflecting growing needs for the company’s customers’ digital innovation and digital transformation not only among large enterprises but also among mid-sized companies and small and medium-sized enterprises. For example, this business unit provides tailor-made solution proposals, corporate digital platform services, cashless payments and online business matching services.
Leasing
The Wholesale Business Unit provides a wide range of leasing services, including equipment, operating and leveraged leasing mainly through SMFL, one of the major leasing companies in Japan. The company has a 50% equity interest in SMFL while the remaining 50% is held by Sumitomo Corporation (Sumitomo Corp), a non-affiliate, which makes SMFL the company’s joint venture with Sumitomo Corp.
Retail Business Unit
The Retail Business Unit provides financial services to consumers residing in Japan and mainly consists of the retail businesses of SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank, SMBC Nikko Securities, Sumitomo Mitsui Card and SMBC Consumer Finance. This business unit offers a wide range of products and services for consumers, including wealth management services, settlement services, consumer finance and housing loans, in order to address the financial needs of all individual customers.
Wealth Management
The Retail Business Unit offers a variety of wealth management services to high-net-worth customers, as well as customers with needs for asset building in the mass affluent and mass segments. The financial products and services that this business unit offers include deposit products, such as time deposits and foreign currency deposits, investment trusts, equities, bonds, insurance products and trust services.
In order to meet high-net-worth customers’ diverse needs for asset management, including asset succession, SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank and SMBC Nikko Securities are promoting greater collaboration by leveraging SMBC’s broad client base and high advisory capabilities of SMBC Trust Bank and SMBC Nikko Securities. In addition, the company is appointing dedicated staff to high-net-worth customers to give them access to outstanding advice and service.
Settlement
The Retail Business Unit conducts credit card, installment and transaction businesses and provides customers with secure and convenient payment methods and offers a variety of settlement and finance services to meet diverse customer needs through Sumitomo Mitsui Card.
Sumitomo Mitsui Card is a leading company in Japan’s credit card industry, having introduced the Visa brand into the Japanese market, and issues a variety of affiliated credit cards in cooperation with partners including, but not limited to, railway companies, airline companies, department stores and online retailers to satisfy both these partners’ and cardholders’ needs. Sumitomo Mitsui Card, together with GMO Payment Gateway, Inc. and Visa Worldwide Japan, Co., Ltd., also provides a next generation payment platform that enables one-stop support for multiple payment methods on a single device. Sumitomo Mitsui Card conducts credit card, installment (such as shopping credit and automobile loans) and solution (such as collection outsourcing and factoring) businesses.
SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Card are leveraging their strengths to address cashless payment needs and integrate marketing and business operations.
On April 1, 2024, Sumitomo Mitsui Card merged with SMBC Finance Service, which had been Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s wholly-owned subsidiary and conducted credit card, installment (such as shopping credit and automobile loans) and solution (such as collection outsourcing and factoring) businesses. This merger was made for the purpose of enhancing the overall strength of the companies and accelerating its group’s initiatives for cashless payment strategy to address all payment needs of both consumers and merchants.
Consumer Finance
The Retail Business Unit offers a variety of consumer loan products, including unsecured card loan products mainly through SMBC, SMBC Consumer Finance and Sumitomo Mitsui Card to meet the wide range of individual customers’ demand for funds. Also, SMBC Consumer Finance guarantees certain consumer loans made by SMBC and other financial institutions.
In April 2023, Sumitomo Mitsui Card acquired all shares of SMBC Mobit Co., Ltd. from SMBC Consumer Finance and made it a wholly-owned subsidiary and subsequently, in July 2023, Sumitomo Mitsui Card merged with SMBC Mobit Co., Ltd. This reorganization was made in the anticipation of a merger to strengthen the company’s response to the settlement driven financing needs associated with customer purchases, which are expected to continue to grow along with the growth of the cashless market in Japan.
Housing Loans
The Retail Business Unit provides housing loans with a variety of terms and interest rates to meet diversified customer needs. Furthermore, this business unit offers a housing loan combined with an insurance policy that covers the repayment of the outstanding loan balance in the event the borrower is diagnosed with certain diseases. Housing loans are principally secured by collateral or supported by guarantees.
The Retail Business Unit operations are mainly conducted through a large and well developed branch network. For the convenience of individual customers, some SMBC branches operate on weekday evenings and provide wealth management services through arranging consultation sessions on weekends and national holidays. Further, consumer loan promotion offices of SMBC offer housing loan consultation on weekends and national holidays.
The Retail Business Unit also operates an extensive network of ATMs in Japan. SMBC offers its customers’ access to ATMs, some of which are SMBC’s ATMs and the majority of which are ATMs made available through arrangements with other ATM providers such as convenience store chains.
This business unit also offers internet banking services for consumers. The users are able to transfer funds, perform balance inquiries, make time deposits and foreign currency deposits, and buy and sell investment trusts over the internet with smartphones and computers.
Moreover, in the credit card business, there are approximately 39 million card holders of Sumitomo Mitsui Card at March 31, 2025.
The Retail Business Unit is pursuing services tailored to the changing needs and behaviors of the company’s customers by increasing the number of procedures that can be completed digitally or remotely, and expanding digital tools. In addition, through the development of joint branches shared by SMBC, SMBC Nikko Securities, and SMBC Trust Bank, the company provides a one-stop service and achieve both greater convenience for customers and more efficient branch operations.
The Retail Business Unit promotes digitalization in a variety of areas, including the promotion of the use of debit cards and credit cards that address cashless payment needs, a smartphone application that allows the company’s customers to easily and seamlessly view information on transactions with SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Card, and an automated chat service utilizing artificial intelligence. In March 2023, it launched a new digital financial service, Olive, allowing retail customers to seamlessly access various financial services, such as banking services, payment services, finance services, securities services and insurance services through its smartphone application. SMBC is developing the ‘STORE’, which is a new kind of physical store branch, where customers can handle day-to-day procedures at their convenience, in easily accessible commercial facilities. At the ‘STORE’, customers can handle various procedures, such as updating their bank account information, by using devices, which are connected to the company’s call center during extended hours, including weekday evenings, weekends and national holidays.
Global Business Unit
The Global Business Unit supports the global businesses of a diverse range of clients, such as Japanese companies operating overseas, non-Japanese companies, financial institutions, government agencies, public corporations and retail clients of various countries. This business unit mainly consists of the global businesses of SMBC, SMBC Trust Bank, SMFL, SMBC Nikko Securities and their foreign subsidiaries. At March 31, 2025, the company had a global network of overseas offices.
Banking Business
The Global Business Unit provides a variety of tailored products and services to meet customer and market requirements, including loans, deposits, clearing services, trade finance, project finance, loan syndication, derivatives and global cash management services.
SMBC seeks to meet customers’ needs globally, together with the network of the company’s foreign subsidiaries, such as SMBC Bank International plc, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (China) Limited, PT Bank SMBC Indonesia Tbk (which changed its corporate name from PT Bank BTPN Tbk in October 2024), SMBC MANUBANK (which changed its corporate name from Manufacturers Bank in November 2023), SMBC Bank EU AG, SMFG India Credit Company Limited and its foreign associates, including ACLEDA Bank Plc, Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank and VPBank SMBC Finance Company Limited.
In November 2021, the company acquired a 74.9% equity interest in Fullerton India, which became its subsidiary. Fullerton India has a pan-India distribution network. This acquisition was made in order to gain a retail finance platform in India and further expand its business franchise in Asia. Fullerton India changed its name to SMFG India Credit Company Limited on May 11, 2023. Subsequently, on March 2024, the company acquired the remaining 25.1% equity interest in SMFG India Credit Company Limited and made its wholly owned subsidiary.
In April 2022, SMBC Bank EU AG merged with the company’s securities business subsidiary in Germany, SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Europe GmbH. The merger enables the company to offer banking and securities products to its customers through a single entity providing a full range of financial services in the European Union.
In July 2023, to build a platform for the U.S. retail business and sustain growth in the U.S. operations, SMBC MANUBANK launched the Jenius Bank, a digital-based retail banking business which began offering personal loans and savings accounts to U.S. residents.
In October 2023, SMBC acquired a 15.0% equity interest in Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank, a commercial bank in Vietnam. As a result, Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank became the company’s associate.
Securities and Derivatives Business
In overseas markets, the Global Business Unit provides services, such as equity and fixed income sales and trading, underwriting activities, Japanese stock brokerage, M&A advisory and derivatives through SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Limited, SMBC Bank EU AG, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets Inc. and SMBC Capital Markets (Asia) Limited, which are subsidiaries of SMBC in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the United States and Asia. In addition, this business unit provides services, such as equity and fixed income sales and trading, underwriting activities, Japanese stock brokerage and M&A advisory services through SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Limited and SMBC Nikko Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Together with other SMBC Nikko Securities’ subsidiaries and affiliates, this business unit offers financial services to clients on a global basis. Further, the company has been strengthening strategic capital and business alliances with Jefferies Financial Group, Inc., a U.S. general securities firm, and expanding the business and regions covered by the collaboration.
Leasing Business
The Global Business Unit provides a variety of leasing services related to the construction machinery, transportation equipment, industrial machinery, medical equipment and other categories mainly through SMFL’s offices overseas. This business unit also offers aircraft leasing services through SMBC Aviation Capital Limited, a subsidiary of SMFL.
On December 2023, the company transferred its entire interest in SMBC Rail Services LLC, its railcar operating leasing subsidiary in the United States, to a non-affiliate investment company. As a result, SMBC Rail Services LLC is no longer the company’s subsidiary.
Global Markets Business Unit
The Global Markets Business Unit offers solutions through foreign exchange products, derivatives, bonds, stocks and other marketable financial products, and also undertakes asset liability management operations, which help comprehensively control balance sheet liquidity risks and market risks. This business unit consists of the Global Markets and Treasury Unit of SMBC, which was renamed from the Treasury Unit in April 2023 and the Global Markets Division of SMBC Nikko Securities.
Asset Liability Management and Portfolio Management
The Global Markets Business Unit maintains high profitability and stability by establishing a portfolio with highly liquid products and focusing on products for which investment appetite is high, and by carrying out portfolio rebalancing in a nimble and dynamic manner in response to changes in market conditions.
Foreign Currency Funding
To support the company’s overseas businesses, this business unit strives to improve the stability of the company’s foreign currency funding by diversifying funding methods and expanding the scope of investors it targets. At the same time, this business unit keeps appropriate control of the balance sheet in response to international financial regulations.
Sales and Trading
The Global Markets Business Unit provides detailed information on market conditions and economic trends to address customers’ hedging and asset management needs, expands its product lineup in foreign exchange, derivative, bond, stock and other products and supplies timely solutions to increase customer satisfaction and SMBC Group earnings.
In addition, this business unit encourages the use of electronic transactions, such as its electronic foreign exchange execution platform available via the internet to respond to the needs of a wider range of customers.
Other Major Business
System Development, Data Processing, Management Consulting and Economic Research
The company provides financial consultation services relating to management reforms, IT, the planning and development of strategic information systems and outsourcing. The company also conducts diverse activities, including domestic and international economic research and analysis, policy recommendations and business incubation. The company offers these services mainly through The Japan Research Institute.
Asset Management
The company provides mutual funds and investment management services, such as alternative investment strategy, customized portfolio products, and active investment strategy for a wide range of investors in order to aim to achieve sustainable long term-growth through SMDAM and TT International Asset Management Ltd.
Regulations
As a result of its operations in the United States, the company and SMBC are subject to extensive federal and state banking and securities supervision and regulation. SMBC engages in U.S. banking activities directly through its branches in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and through its representative offices in Houston, Dallas, Silicon Valley, Charlotte, Chicago and White Plains, New York. SMBC also controls a U.S. banking subsidiary, SMBC MANUBANK (formerly, Manufacturers Bank), and a U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc.
The company and SMBC have established a U.S. bank holding company, SMBC Americas Holdings, Inc. (SMBCAH), a wholly owned direct subsidiary of SMBC. SMBCAH is the holding company for SMBC MANUBANK, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. and certain other U.S. subsidiaries. The establishment of SMBCAH enhances the company’s and SMBC’s U.S. corporate governance capabilities by centralizing the supervision and management of its U.S. operations and bringing together its primary U.S.-based banking, securities, capital markets and other subsidiaries under the new holding company.
SMBC’s New York branch is supervised by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services, but its deposits are not insured (or eligible to be insured) by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). SMBC’s Los Angeles and San Francisco branches are supervised by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), but their deposits are not insured (or eligible to be insured) by the FDIC. SMBC’s representative offices in Houston and Dallas are subject to regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Texas Department of Banking. SMBC’s representative office in Silicon Valley is subject to regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the California DFPI. SMBC’s representative office in Charlotte is subject to regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks. SMBC’s representative office in Chicago is subject to regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. SMBC’s representative office in White Plains, New York is subject to regulation and examination by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services.
SMBC MANUBANK is a California state-chartered bank with FDIC-insured deposits that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System. As such, SMBC MANUBANK is subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the FDIC and the California DFPI.
The company, SMBC and SMBCAH are bank holding companies by virtue of their ownership of SMBC MANUBANK, and as such are subject to the U.S. Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (codified at 12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq), as amended (Bank Holding Company Act), and are subject to regulation, supervision and examination by the Federal Reserve Board as their U.S. umbrella supervisor. The company, SMBC and SMBCAH are required to serve as sources of financial strength to SMBC MANUBANK.
The Bank Holding Company Act prohibits, in principle, the bank holding company (here, the company and SMBC) from engaging in, either directly or through their subsidiaries, activities outside of banking activities, managing or controlling banks and other subsidiaries authorized under the Bank Holding Company Act, or activities closely related to banking, or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. However, if a bank holding company meets certain requirements and obtains the status of a financial holding company, it can also engage, either directly or through its nonbank subsidiaries, in the U.S. and abroad, in financial activities, either de novo or by acquisition, by providing after-the-fact notice to the Federal Reserve Board.
The company, SMBC and SMBCAH have all elected to be treated as financial holding companies. The company, SMBC, SMBCAH and SMBC MANUBANK, as its U.S. insured depository institution subsidiary, are required to be well capitalized and well managed, including maintenance of examination ratings that are at least satisfactory, in order for the company, SMBC, and SMBCAH to continue to be treated as financial holding companies.
Under the Bank Holding Company Act, the company, SMBC and SMBCAH are also required to obtain the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board before directly or indirectly acquiring the ownership or control of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities of the U.S. banks, certain other depository institutions and bank or depository institution holding companies. In addition, SMBC’s U.S. banking operations (including SMBC MANUBANK and SMBC’s U.S. branches) are also restricted from engaging in certain tying arrangements where a bank conditions the availability or price of one product on a requirement that the customer also obtain another product from the bank or an affiliate of the bank.
SMBC’s U.S. branches and SMBC MANUBANK are subject to requirements and restrictions under the U.S. federal and state law, including requirements to maintain reserves against deposits, restrictions on the types and amounts of loans that may be made and limitations on the types of investments that may be made and the types of services that may be offered. Various consumer laws and regulations also affect the operations of SMBC MANUBANK, and to a limited extent, SMBC’s New York and California branches.
Section 13 of the Bank Holding Company Act (codified at 12 U.S.C. 1851), known as the Volcker Rule, which was added by Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the Dodd-Frank Act) imposes restrictions on the ability of banking entities, such as the company, SMBC, SMBCAH and SMBC MANUBANK and most of their affiliates, to engage as principal in proprietary trading activities, or sponsor, invest in, or retain investments in certain private equity, hedge or similar funds, subject to a number of exclusions and exemptions, including ones that limit the Volcker Rule’s extraterritorial reach.
In the United States, SMBC’s U.S.-registered broker-dealer subsidiary, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. is regulated by the SEC. In addition, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. is a member of and regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and is regulated by the individual state securities authorities in the states in which it operates. The U.S. government agencies and self-regulatory organizations, as well as state securities authorities in the United States having jurisdiction over SMBC’s U.S. broker-dealer affiliate, are empowered to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in, among other things, censure, fine, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or the suspension or expulsion of a broker-dealer or its associated persons, including directors, officers or employees.
History
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2002. The company was incorporated in 2002.
