The Financial Services Agency today announced that it had concluded its examination of Sony's application to obtain a Preliminary Judgement for a Banking License (under Article 2 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Banking Law) which was lodged on January 31, 2001. Based on this it is now planned to establish Sony Bank Inc. on April 2, 2001.

Company Profile (Tentative) [already announced on January 31, 2001]

• Company Name
  Sony Bank Inc.
• Head Office
  Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
• President
  Shigeru Ishii (currently General Manager, Financial
  Service Business Development Dept., Sony Corporation)
• Directorate
  7 persons (5 from Sony Corporation, one from Sakura
  Bank and one from J.P. Morgan)
• Capital
  ¥37.5 billion (Sony 80%, Sakura Bank 16% and J.P. Morgan 4%)
• Employees
  Approx. 80 at start of operations

Operations [already announced on January 31, 2001]

• Target for Operational Start
  Through June 2001
• Target Number of Customer Accounts
  Approx. 400,000 (after 3 years of operation) approx. 600,000 (after 5 years of operation)
• Target Number of Customer Accounts
  Approx. 400,000 (after 3 years of operation) approx. 600,000 (after 5 years of operation)
• Target Amount of Deposits
  ¥600 billion (after 3 years of operation)
  ¥1 trillion (after 5 years of operation)

Services

The intention is to provide comprehensive personal banking services which exploit the special merits of the internet. The basic services at start of operations would include yen-deposit accounts, investment trusts, card loans, bank payments etc. Within the first year of operations it is also projected to develop foreign currency deposit accounts, credit card business, housing loans, etc. Details will be given as these services come on-line.

Schedule

Sony Bank Inc. will make a formal application for a banking license in the immediate future with a view to starting operations through June 2001.