MUFJ scouts for banks in Asia and Australia
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is studying possible bank and wealth management business buys in Asia, Australia and the United States, NTD reported on Friday.MUFG president Katsunori Nagayasu told the network the bank may spend about US$10 billion in acquisitions but is waiting for more clarity on global banking rules before pursuing major acquisitions.Nagayasu earlier told the Nikkei business daily that "China was our number one priority".MUFJ has also said it wants to be one of the top 10 banks in the US. The Japanese bank owns California-based Union Bank.The bank, the largest in Japan, paid $9 billion for a 21 percent stake in Morgan Stanley in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. Last year, it bought about $5 billion in project finance loans from Royal Bank of Scotland.How seriously MUFJ might take acquisition opportunities in Australia is unknown and the opportunities are few.Bank of Queensland was scouting for a strategic investor among Asian banks a year or so ago and so might be interested in talking to the bank.However, acquisitions in wealth management may be of more interest to Asia and Australia than banks, Reuters reports.