Japanese banking behemoth Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is planning investments in Asia and it is said to be specifically looking at Indonesia, the Philippines or India for the purpose. The bank has earlier bought a bank in Thailand for around $ 5 billion. The group prefers a bank with expertise in consumer banking, according to a senior official of the group. Go Watanabe, CEO, Asia-Oceania unit of the group, said the group is looking for a bank that is very strong in both corporate and retail consumer finance. Banks in Asian countries are are at various stages of relaxing norms for foreign banks operating in these countries. India for example, allows overseas holdings of as much as 74%, up from 49% previously. Indonesian regulators have allowed South Korea’s Shinhan Bank to buy two lenders and merge them, providing an exception to a 40% foreign-ownership limit. The Philippines eased its rules to let international companies fully own a domestic bank.
