Sumitomo Bank

one of the largest commercial banks in Japan. It is a lending center of the Sumitomo financial and industrial group.

The Sumitomo Bank was founded in 1895 as the Kichizaemon Sumitomo banking house, with capital of 1 million yen. In 1948 it was renamed the Bank of Osaka, and in 1952 it reverted to its former name. Its headquarters are in Osaka. As of Mar. 31, 1975, the bank’s capital totaled 66 billion yen ($225 million).

In the early I970’s, the Sumitomo Bank was first among Japanese commercial banks in deposits, loans (calculated on a per-employee and per-branch basis), and profits. It is a leading bank in Japan’s clearing operations. It has 183 branches in the country and 11 branches and agencies abroad, as well as the subsidiaries Sumitomo Bank of California and Sumitomo Bank of Brazil. The Sumitomo Bank of Brazil maintains correspondent relationships with the Bank for Foreign Trade of the USSR and with banks of other socialist countries.

The total balance of the bank as of Mar. 31, 1975, was 8,920 billion yen ($30.3 billion), with deposits of 5,765 billion yen ($19.6 billion), loans of 5,052 billion yen ($17.1 billion), acceptances and guaranties of 1,178 billion yen ($4 billion), and securities of 908 billion yen ($3.1 billion).