Mizuho Corporate Bank and its German subsidiary have together bought a Russian bank, Michinoku Bank (Moscow), completing the purchase of 100% of all 10 million outstanding shares on January 21. The move might turn out to have much further-reaching consequences than the Japanese bank’s higher-profile purchase of a stake in Merrill Lynch earlier in the month. The acquisition of a small stake in a Wall Street bank looks like a purely financial investment of spare capital, whereas the Russian adventure indicates the increasing desire of Japan’s largest commercial banks...
