MUFG: MUFG is open to any opportunity that may come his way in India: Masakazu Osawa

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan’s largest megaproject bank With nearly $3 trillion in assets, it last week made its biggest bet yet on India: doubling down on an existing investment. investment with an additional commitment of ₹4,712 crore to DMI Finance. Masakazu OsawaThe bank’s Asia Pacific chief executive, tells Joel Rebello that the group has only just begun its investment journey in India and will soon increase its exposure in the economy that is soon expected to be the world’s third largest. Edited excerpts:

Last week you doubled your investment in DMI Finance. What is the strategy For investments in India?

MUFG Bank focused on large companies business Here in Asia, outside of Japan. In 2013, we made a decision to take more risks outside of Japan, in Asia, as what is called a second mother market for us, which is the neighborhood of Japan. So we started investing in some of the commercial banks in Asia, including Krungsri Bank in Thailand and Bank Danamon in Indonesia, which are now subsidiary banks in those countries, and Security Bank in the Philippines and VietinBank in Vietnam, which are affiliates with a 20% stake in those countries. We expanded our customer coverage to more local businesses and even, in some cases, SMEs in those countries, especially in Thailand and Indonesia. Also, we decided to have more exposure and involvement in consumer finance or the startup area starting from 2017-18, and that is why we invested in Grab Singapore, in 2020. I think India is really a strategic focus, because it has excellent business opportunities. digital Financial services platform here. We believe that there are many critical factors with which startups can grow exponentially in the coming years. We set up the Ganesha Fund in 2022 when I was the digital transformation director based in Tokyo. I expect investments to continue to increase in this fiscal year. DMI is practically a unicorn now and since the Ganesha Fund only has the investment limit of $300 million, MUFG Bank itself is investing in DMI, including the additional investment this time.

What role does MUFG plan to play in India? Will it be a lender or a long-term investor?
For the past 70 years, our corporate banking business has been at the core of our strategies and we would like to place our banking functions at the core of our strategy. But we are keen to strengthen our competitive advantage by leveraging the expertise of our branches in GIFT City. We also have a growing business in the capital markets, together with Morgan Stanley, in which we hold a stake of more than 20%.

MUFG has acquired stakes in Asia, where growth is rapid. What about India? Is there a chance that you will consider some kind of opportunity?
Yes, yes. Of course, in principle we are open to any opportunity that comes our way in India, but basically, under Indian laws and regulations, we are not allowed to acquire a full-fledged bank, so it may not be that easy and of course there could be room for negotiation with regulators. Our bank in Indonesia is also listed. Since 2013, we have been trying to expand our customer coverage from large corporations to more local corporations. We are quite open to any opportunity.