MUFG denies merger report with Morgan Stanley
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) denies having reached a deal to a time table or structure with Morgan Stanley for a joint operation in Japan.
The Nikkei newspaper had previously reported that the two banks had closed a merger deal of their brokerage operations in Japan to take effect by the end of the year.
A Mitsubishi UFJ-Morgan Stanley merger would create the third largest brokerage in Japan, behind Nomura Securities and Daiwa Holdings.
While MUFG stated that it continues to discuss a wide range of opportunities to work with Morgan Stanley in many regions globally, including the possibility of cooperating in Japan, it emphasized that "there is no factual basis to media reports" that the two sides have reached an agreement to merge their brokerage operations in Japan.
MUFG invested $9 billion in Morgan Stanley in October last year and had since fueled reports of a merger.