Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group MUFG

MUFG Bank is investing in its Greater China business, but will its strategy pay off?

The bank's international strategy is on a global scale, but its expansion plan in Asia is the one to watch, as it aims to reshape the region's financial system.

The winners of this year’s RMB survey are already benefiting from a new wave of liberalization across commercial and investment banking activity that will allow the currency to win wallets around the world.

The country’s lenders face depressing conditions in their home market, with negative interest rates, razor-thin net interest margins and an ageing population. If they want to lift profits, they have little choice but to expand offshore, despite numerous hurdles.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi surprised many when it bought Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya in 2013. Defying the critics, the Japanese lender’s gamble has bagged it a consumer-finance powerhouse, while Krungsri benefits from BTM’s institutional strength and client roster.