Reports: Morgan Stanley, MUFG to merge Japan units

TOKYO: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc plans to take a 60 per cent stake in a new brokerage that it will create with US investment bank Morgan Stanley, local media reported Wednesday.

The two firms have already agreed to merge their brokerage units next spring, with Mitsubishi UFJ taking control of the joint entity, according to The Nikkei financial daily.

The companies are now finalizing the size of their respective stakes, the Nikkei said. The combined brokerage would be the third-biggest securities firm in Japan.

Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest banking group that's also known as MUFG, said in a statement that no decisions have been made regarding potential business ventures with Morgan Stanley.

In October, MUFG invested $9 billion in Morgan Stanley amid an accelerating global financial crisis.

``MUFG and Morgan Stanley continue to discuss a wide range of opportunities to work together in many regions globally, including the possibility of cooperating in Japan,'' the statement said.

Shares in Mitsubishi UFJ fell 0.6 percent to 532 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.