Bank
of America is spinning off its Japanese joint private banking venture,
selling its 49 per cent stake to its partner Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group.

Merrill Lynch Japan Securities owns 49.2 per cent of the Mitsubishi
UFJ Merrill Lynch PB Securities venture, while The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ owns 41.18 per cent and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities
Holdings owns 9.8 per cent.

The Japanese joint venture succeeded the private client division of
Merrill Lynch Japan Securities in May 2006, and provides private banking
services to high net worth individuals in Japan. (Merrill Lynch Japan
Securities is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch International,
which is in turn owned by Merrill Lynch, acquired by Bank of America in
2009.)

Operating revenue at the unit at March 2012 was JPY25 billion (around
$0.3 billion) and the value of deposited assets was JPY1.8 trillion.

Following the change in shareholding, due on December 26, The Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi will own 49 per cent of the business and Mitsubishi
UFJ Securities will own 51 per cent. Both are subsidiaries of Mitsubishi
UFJ Financial Group. Meanwhile, also as of December 26, 2012, Toshiyuki
Morioka will become representative director and president of the
private banking unit. He is currently representative director and chief
operating officer; Miwa Ohmori is representative director and chief
executive.

Going forwards Bank of America Merrill Lynch
will focus on global markets, corporate and investment banking in
Japan. The move follows other global restructuring at the firm such as
the sale of its non-US wealth business in August. Broadly, it is focused
on its global banking and markets division outside the US. As such it
agreed to continue to provide certain products to Julius Baer after the
sale, and similarly will continue to partner with Mitsubishi UFJ Merrill
Lynch PB Securities, which is also retaining its current name for the
time being.

The changes come at a time when many global banks are reviewing their
activities and selling units which haven't managed to gain sufficient
scale or profitability. For example, UBS Global Asset Management
yesterday announced the sale of a Canadian investment management
business to a locally-listed firm, Fiera Capital. Meanwhile, Goldman
Sachs is pulling out of the South Korean asset management business just
five years after entering the highly competitive market, saying the
business had not lived up to its expectations. Yesterday it emerged
Deutsche Bank is merging its Swiss wealth units to boost profitability
in the country.