Japan's financial industry will naturally engage in M&A activities in their pursuit of raising their corporate value. For example, acquiring business operations that bring a greater synergy with the current operations, or selling business operations with a small competitive advantage are a few means of enhancing their corporate value.
With respect to cross-border M&As, the recent revision of Japanese corporate law enabled overseas firms to conduct a forward triangular merger through the exchange of shares. In fact, the first case took place in the financial industry, where a large U.S. banking group acquired a major securities firm in Japan.