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Regional banks plan integration
TOKYO, Japan -- Two Japanese regional banks, Hokuriku Bank and Hokkaido Bank, said Friday they will integrate their operations under a holding company in the financial year starting next April. The banks said Friday they would set up an integration committee to work on the details. The proposed alliance will create Japan's second largest regional banking group, behind Bank of Yokohama. Hokkaido Bank operates on the northern island of Hokkaido, while its new ally serves the Hokuriku region in the north of the main island, Honshu. Ahead of the announcement Friday, shares in Hokkaido finished 13.3 percent higher to 111 yen and Hokuriku shares fell 2.7 percent to 144 yen. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said he welcomed reports that the two banks were looking at integrating their operations in the 2004-05 fiscal year. The reports first surfaced in the Nihon Keizai business daily on Friday morning. "It is true that we are considering the reported move to integrate operations with Hokkaido Bank, but we have not made a final decision at this point," Hokuriku Bank said in a statement early in the day. Hokkaido Bank issued a similar statement. The new bank would have deposits of more than 8.2 trillion yen ($70 billion), making it Japan's second-largest regional bank after Bank of Yokohama Ltd, which has 8.8 trillion yen, the Nihon Keizai said. Hokuriku and Hokkaido would eliminate overlapping branches to boost profitability.
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