Japanese Megabanks Join SBI Holdings to Pull Staff Out of Russia

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s top lenders, including the banking unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., are pulling their Japanese staff out of Russia due to safety concerns following its invasion of Ukraine. 

The banking units of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are also moving Japanese staff out of the country, according to representatives for the firms. Their operations in Russia will continue with local staff, they said. 

MUFG has four Japanese employees in Russia, Sumitomo Mitsui has “several” and Mizuho has six dispatchers from Japan, the spokespeople said. The megabanks will move staff to locations in Europe and the Middle East to oversee Russia operations remotely, Yomiuri reported earlier, without attribution.

Here’s What Japanese Banks’ Exposure to Russia Looks Like

The banks join Japan’s largest online brokerage, SBI Holdings Inc., in moving staff from Russia. SBI Bank LLC has moved at least half of its Japanese employees from its Moscow-based banking unit, a company spokesperson said earlier this week.   

Wall Street firms JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are pulling back from Russia as the death toll rises in Ukraine and millions of refugees flee. JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank, is currently engaging in limited activities in Russia, while Goldman Sachs plans to close its operations there.

The finance-industry titans follow firms in other sectors, including McDonald’s Corp. and Coca-Cola Co., that have already said they will halt business operations in Russia. The moves will further isolate Russia, a nation of 144 million people and the world’s 11th-largest economy. 

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