Industrial Bank of Japan

The , based in Tokyo, Japan, was one of the largest banks in the world during the latter half of the 20th century.

It combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Fuji Bank in 2002 to form Mizuho Financial Group.

History

IBJ was originally founded as a public-sector bank under the Industrial Bank of Japan Act of 1902. At that time, Japan was in the throes of its industrial revolution, and there was a strong demand for long-term investment capital. IBJ raised funds by issuing bank debentures.

IBJ also acted as the trustee in corporate debenture issues - notably, the major Japanese railway company issue of 1906 in London, amount to the then-enormous sum of 1 million pounds sterling. These activities contributed to the building of the Japanese domestic securities market, and to the generating of a higher profile for Japanese borrowers in the international market.

This early experience of a sophisticated mix of corporate and investment banking with exposure to trust work is unique to IBJ amongst Japanese banks. In the original Act, there was the wording, “Trust business related to local government bond, corporate bonds, and equities”. This was the first time for the term “trust”, or , to appear in the Japanese statute book.

The 1918 amendment to the IBJ Act permitted the underwriting and offering of equities. At that point, IBJ had the full capabilities for what is now termed investment banking. However, that was at what proved to be the peak of the demand created for Japanese...
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