Japan’s top two regional banks consider tie-up

TOKYO:- Bank of Yokohama and Chiba Bank Ltd are considering a business tie-up, the banks said, after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the two regional lenders would form a comprehensive partnership.

The tie-up, which would bring two of Japan’s biggest local banks closer together, is the latest to highlight the strain on smaller banks in the world’s third-largest economy, where years of near-zero interest rates have made traditional banking barely profitable, meaning scale is needed for survival.