SMFG to reinforce tie-up with Daiwa Securities SMBC+

TOKYO, Dec. 30 Kyodo - Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will reinforce its investment banking business by working more closely with Daiwa Securities SMBC Co., the president of the leading Japanese banking group said Tuesday.

Specifically, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., the core of the financial group,
will step up its cooperative relationship with Daiwa Securities SMBC, Teisuke
Kitayama said in an interview with Kyodo News.
Daiwa Securities SMBC is a wholesale securities firm jointly owned by Daiwa
Securities Group Inc. and SMFG.
Although Daiwa Securities SMBC incurred a group net loss of 42.5 billion yen in
the April-September first half of fiscal 2008, compared with a profit of 13
billion yen a year earlier, the joint venture has generated ''synergy effects''
over the past decade, Kitayama said.
While Daiwa Securities SMBC is currently 60 percent owned by Daiwa Securities
Group and 40 percent owned by SMFG, Kitayama denied that SMFG intends to change
the ratio.
He also said SMFG will seek to become a ''major player'' in the consumer
finance market, indicating the group will reinforce its alliance with Promise
Co., a leading consumer loan provider 20 percent owned by SMFG.
==Kyodo