On Feb. 26, Fukuoka-based Fukuoka Financial Group (FFG), the parent of the Bank of Fukuoka and Kumamoto Bank, and Nagasaki-based Eighteenth Bank have officially announced that they have reached a basic agreement on a merger. The plan would make Eighteenth Bank a wholly-owned subsidiary of FFG by April 2017 and merge it with Sasebo-based Shinwa Bank, another one of FFG’s subsidiaries, by April 2018. A final decision on the merger will be made this August, and the deal will be finalized with a swap of stocks after an extraordinary shareholder meeting slated for December. If approved, the deal would boost FFG’s consolidated assets to up over ¥18.4 trillion, making it the largest regional banking player in Japan. Source: Mainichi Shimbun, 2/26
