Aichi FG and Sanjusan FG Call Off Their Merger Agreement

Nagoya-based Aichi Financial Group, parent of Aichi Bank, and Mie-based Sanjusan Financial Group, parent of Sanjusan Bank, announced on the 10th that they are calling off their earlier basic agreement toward a merger. Regional banks face long-run consolidation pressure amid low rates and population decline, and mergers are a common survival route; scrapping the deal suggests the two could not agree on terms or outlook. For those tracking Japanese regionals, it is an episode within the same backdrop as our lead story on hiking-driven divergence—strategic choices get harder in a rate-hike cycle. Watch each side's next move.