Mitsubishi UFG and Nomura invest in US investment banks

Japan’s largest bank MUFG has agreed to purchase 10 to 20 percent stake of Morgan Stanley although the price of each share will depend on due diligence that will be bases on the US bank’s book value.

MUFG said in a press conference in Tokyo that its maximum investment would be Y900 billion ($8.4 billion). It’s also said that MUFG will consider sending at least one director to sit on the board of Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are the only two US investment banks independently standing after the catastrophic week in Wall Street. Both banks were converted into traditional bank holding companies by the US Federal Reserve on Monday.

Mitsubishi UFG investment is the second noteworthy investment by a Japanese company in a US investment bank. Japan’s largest brokerage house Nomura earlier on Monday agreed to buy the Asian operation of Lehman Brothers for $225 million.

Read the full story in marketwatch