7. Enhancing our corporate solution business

In fiscal year 2006, SMBC overhauled the operational and organizational structures of the Middle Market Banking Unit based on serious lessons learned from antitrust issues in the past.

As a major measure to improve the structure, the Corporate Advisory Division was created in April 2006, which was concurrently attached to the Middle Market Banking Unit and Corporate Banking Unit. The purpose of the new division was to consolidate and reorganize corporate advisory functions that had previously been located separately within the three units: Middle Market Banking, Corporate Banking, and Investment Banking. In April 2008, the Global Advisory Department was established to support globally operating corporations with solving issues associated with cross-border transactions. The department was integrated with the International Business Promotion Department in April 2009 to support overseas business of Japanese corporate customers, both from within and outside of Japan.

To improve operational systems, a major initiative was implemented in fiscal year 2006 to substantially revise performance assessment systems for branch operations in the Middle Market Banking Unit and Corporate Banking Unit, so as to increase the focus on customer-oriented points of view and medium- to long-term perspectives. The revision was designed to review the concept of branch-office operations in line with the corporate mission of “achieving growth with customers”.