artificial intelligence
Japan Digital Design (JDD) has developed a 70-billion parameter large language model (LLM) called "Llama-3.3-fintranslate-JDD-70b" specialized in translating financial market-related documents. In internal evaluations using actual business data, the model achieved performance exceeding global models such as GPT-4o. Additionally, JDD plans to soon begin providing a translation
banking
As Japan's largest megabank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) occupies a central position in both the domestic and global financial landscape. The company's recent disclosure of strong half-year financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2026 provides a clear window into its current operational momentum
artificial intelligence
MUFG Bank, a consolidated subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with OpenAI. Through this agreement, MUFG Bank will also begin initiatives to create innovative customer experiences in retail banking. Since the October 2024 announcement of an alliance, both companies have been conducting
infrastructure
Finatext Holdings second quarter of fiscal year 2025 (Q2 FY2025) was marked by significant top-line growth and the successful execution of key strategic initiatives, reinforcing the company's position as a leading B2B financial technology platform. Strong performance in the core Financial Infrastructure and Big Data Analytics segments, coupled
corporate venture capital
ZIRITZ, which operates the asset management platform "StockFormer" and the AI-powered automatic apartment planning service "StockFormer-ZERO," has completed Series A funding totaling 700 million yen. In this round, Nissay Capital and Daiwa Corporate Investment served as lead investors, with participation from a total of 7 venture
mergers & acquisitions
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in kAIgentic, a company incorporated by Mr. Mazhari, SMBC Group’s AI Transformation Advisor, in Singapore in August 2025. kAIgentic led by Mr. Mazhari builds the enterprise “Intelligence Layer” to accelerate AI transformation within the SMBC
artificial intelligence
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and its consolidated subsidiary, MUFG Bank, have entered into an investment agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding regarding strategic collaboration with Third Intelligence, an AI R&D company. Other investors are SMBC, SBI Group, and Hokuhodo DY Ventures. Third Intelligence is a company
corporate venture capital
WIZ.AI, a Singapore-based AI company pioneering the enterprise application of large language models (LLMs) in Southeast Asia, has announced the successful closing of its Series B funding round, raising tens of millions of USD. The round was led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, the corporate venture capital arm of
corporate venture capital
SBI Holdings, through its U.S. subsidiary SBI Holdings USA, has made an investment in the AI2 Incubator Fund III newly established by AI2 Incubator Partners, an AI incubator. This investment aims to capture global investment opportunities in the AI field and strengthen collaboration with startups possessing cutting-edge technology. AI2
corporate venture capital
Sony Financial Ventures and Global Brain Corporation have established a new joint venture company through a co-investment. The rapidly changing environment has been requiring startups to accelerate business expansion, go global, and adopt sophisticated fundraising practice, causing more complex management issues. This has heightened expectations for investment partners who can
korea
The Seoul FinTech Week 2025 Conference took place on Monday, September 29, 2025, and was live streamed via YouTube. We summarize our key takeaways, as well as some of the insights gathered from the individual sessions. Top 10 Takeaways from Seoul FinTech Week 2025 1. AI is the Undisputed Core
artificial intelligence
Sakana AI will partner with Daiwa Securities in its first alliance with a securities firm. This collaboration brings together Daiwa Securities Group’s deep industry knowledge with Sakana AI’s cutting-edge AI technology. Daiwa has long focused on a client-first approach to asset management, looking at a customer’s total