Japan’s MUFG considers scaling back overseas markets division: sources

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is considering scaling back its bond and equity sales and trading operations in London and Ny during a broader restructuring of its global markets division, two sources said on Tuesday.

MUFG, Japan's biggest bank by assets, will also overhaul its Japanese equity business both at home and overseas.

The move adheres to Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings a while back stated it would cut $1 billion in costs from your wholesale business and shut domestic retail branches.

MUFG has yet to finalize the plans, the sources said, declining to get identified considering that the information was not yet public. How large the likely reductions isn’t clear. It had been also unclear what amount of consumers are employed in the affected divisions.

A representative for MUFG said the financial institution was progressing in the structural reform plans but declined to comment further.

The bank aims to redeploy staff elsewhere, avoiding a cloth decline in headcount, the sources said.

Under its mid-term plan announced during the past year, MUFG may be devoted to strengthening the international markets business, that provides bonds, stocks, currencies and derivative sales and trading to institutional and company clients.

It has been working to take the gang, which falls under its core banking unit, below the same management because it is Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Securities three way partnership and make its global presence.

However, MUFG's ambitions are stymied by tons of competition from U.S. and European banks and, designed for bond trading, an arduous market after many years of low interest.