INTERVIEW: Japan’s Norinchukin Bank to Set Up Branch in Amsterdam

July 3, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Norinchukin Bank plans to open a bank branch in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by September next year, its president and chief executive officer, Kazuto Oku, has said in a recent interview.

Norinchukin, the central organization for agricultural, forestry and fishery cooperatives across Japan, hopes to strengthen its financial operations in continental Europe by creating the Amsterdam branch as it prepares for Britain's exit from the European Union, or Brexit.

Currently, Norinchukin has a branch in London, its only foothold in Europe.

The bank manages money, mostly savings at "nokyo" agricultural cooperatives across Japan, chiefly through overseas investment.

"The branch in Amsterdam is designed to prepare for Brexit and is also expected to help diversify our investment destinations and portfolio," Oku said.

With U.S. Treasury securities now accounting for a large part of Norinchukin's investment, the institution plans to add project financing in Europe and other investment tools to its portfolio.

The branch in Amsterdam will initially have a staff of about 30.

Oku also said that Norinchukin will strengthen its business consultation services mainly to help agricultural corporations expand their earnings. Specifically, it plans to step up consultations related to food processing and distribution, as part of its effort to find new clients for its loans.

He suggested that Norinchukin will also strengthen asset management consultation services for nokyo members, saying, "We aim to help them build their assets and secure future wealth so that they can hedge their risks from living longer."

The Norinchukin group has some 5,000 employees. While cutting the workload through the use of information technology, the group plans to relocate about 10 pct of its staff to consultation services. Jiji Press