Singapore's DBS to enter Japan's securities market

TOKYO - DBS Group Holdings, Singapore's largest bank, will expand its securities business into Japan next month, targeting institutional investors struggling to make money under negative interest rates.

The bank received a license Thursday from Japan's Financial Services Agency and will establish a securities unit in the country as early as mid-August.

DBS is among Southeast Asia's largest financial institutions, with its overseas presence concentrated in Asian countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Indonesia and India. DBS Bank, the core of the group, opened a Tokyo branch in 1977.

With the Bank of Japan's negative-rate policy sending yields plummeting, DBS sees an opportunity to offer high-quality debt with more attractive yields to regional banks, trust banks and other institutional investors.

The Singaporean bank's expansion also is driven by a decline in competition as overseas financial institutions, mainly those based in Europe, are scaling back Japanese operations.