Market Currents

• Wednesday, December 16, 2009

• 08:45 AM The world's banks could get ten years to transition to new capital rules that will take effect in 2012, sources say. The news lifted shares of some banks, with MUFG (MTU) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (SMFJY.PK) surging more than 14%. The Basel Committee's new rules will likely take a broader view on the definition of liquid assets and core capital, while the minimum capital threshold will likely be raised to help buffer against future losses. 1 Comment

• Monday, December 14, 2009

• 08:27 AM Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's (MTU) record $11.6B share sale prices at ¥428 (.pdf), a discount to Monday's close of ¥442. Shares have fallen 12% over the past four sessions in anticipation of the massive issuance. Analysts say investors are unlikely to return to Japanese banks until they see details of stricter capital requirements, due out from the Basel Committee in late January. MTU -2.5% premarket. Comment!

• Monday, November 30, 2009

• 07:14 AM Thirty giant financial institutions were selected by the FSB for cross-border systemic-risk oversight, and will be asked to write "living wills" that outline wind-down plans in the aftermath of a crisis. They include: AEG AXA AZ BAC BCS BFR CS DB GS HBC ING JPM MFG MTU NMR RBS RY STD UBS. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, November 18, 2009

• 08:14 AM Morgan Stanley (MS) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) changed their plans about merging their brokerage operations in Japan, originally announced in March. Current plans, which will delay the merger for two months, will create a two-company JV, one of which will be called Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, 60%-owned by MUFG, and will include Morgan Stanley's investment-banking business; the other will be controlled by Morgan and will include its equity and bond trading businesses. 2 Comments

• Sunday, November 15, 2009

• 16:40 PM Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU), Japan's largest bank, ponders selling common shares to raise ¥1T ($11B), one of the biggest such moves by a Japanese insitution. Like other Japanese banks, it has a lower core Tier 1 capital ratio than Western peers and is moving to shore it up. Comment!

• Tuesday, November 10, 2009

• 15:53 PM Morgan Stanley's (MS) joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU) still has some hurdles, but the banks are working on clearing them, says CFO Colm Kelleher. The firms set a March 30 deadline to combine their securities businesses in Japan. Comment!

• Friday, September 25, 2009

• 15:24 PM UnionBanCal - the California lender that dodged much of the housing collapse by avoiding subprime loans - is getting a "preemptive" $2B injection from Mitsubishi UFJ (MTU), which bought it last year, to safeguard against loan losses. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• 18:03 PM Morgan Stanley (MS) is teaming up with its largest investor, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), to create a $100B loan-marketing joint venture (MTU's $70B corporate loan base and MS's $30B). The idea is to improve Morgan's position in investment banking by coupling it with a big lending business. Comment!

• Thursday, June 18, 2009

• 07:17 AM MUFG (MTU) hopes to capitalize on its Morgan Stanley (MS) relationship to grow U.S. business. The two firms are expected to announce a broad global alliance by month's end, covering such areas as corporate finance, commodities and pan-Asian business. Comment!

• Wednesday, June 3, 2009

• 07:07 AM Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. buys $1.2B of shares of Morgan Stanley's (MS) $2.3B stock offering, raising its stake back to around 9.9%. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) purchases 16M shares, bringing its Morgan stake to around 20%. 1 Comment

• Thursday, May 14, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: WH +19%. MTU +12%. MEDX +7%. AMSC +6%. SUMT +5%. BCS +5%. CNO +5%. UBS +4%. GOLD +4%.
  Losers: BEXP -19%. FIG -13%. MGM -10%. MBI -9%. CTIC -6%. CLF -6%. GMXR -5%. GNW -5%. HBAN -5%. CNB -5%. FITB -5%. ABK -4%. ING -4%. Comment!

• Monday, May 11, 2009

• 07:43 AM Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) will obtain $600M of Morgan Stanley's (MS) new common shares. The shares will be swapped on May 13 for preferred stock Mitsubishi UFJ already held, leaving its stake at around 21%. Comment!

• Monday, April 20, 2009

• 10:25 AM Sources say Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), Mizuho (MFG) and Sumitomo (SMFJY.PK) have submitted bids to buy Citigroup's (C) Japan retail brokerage, Nikko Cordial, in a deal that could raise $6B. The bids don't include the asset management unit, which will be auctioned separately. C -11.8%. MFG -4.3%. MTU -7.1%. Comment!

• Tuesday, April 14, 2009

• 07:44 AM Japanese vultures (MTU, MFG, SMFJY.PK) continue to circle Citigroup's (C) Japan operations, though it's far from clear exactly what's for sale. Comment!

• Thursday, March 26, 2009

• 07:15 AM As speculated, Morgan Stanley (MS) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) will merge their Japanese securities businesses to create the country's third-largest brokerage. Comment!

• Wednesday, March 25, 2009

• 07:24 AM Sources say Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU) will likely merge its brokerage firm unit with Morgan Stanley's (MS) Japan unit, ending up with a 60% stake in the combined entity. A merger could be announced as early as this week. Comment!