Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Is Japan’s First Major Bank Aiming to Cut Cross-Held Shares to Zero

Like State Street and Bank of New York Mellon in the U.S., which compete with custodian businesses inside larger U.S. banks like J.P. Morgan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings' main competitors are the trust-bank units of Japanese megabank groups Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho. Given its shared connections to the Sumitomo and Mitsui keiretsu corporate networks, SMTH's business portfolio would be a good match for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, but SMTH and SMFG do not have any capital connection despite the common name.