METROPOL Group of Companies and Japanese SBI Holdings have signed a memorandum of mutual understanding concerning the joint development Internet banking in the Russian market. According to conditions of the memorandum, the parties have reached agreement in principle regarding SBI Holdings’ purchase of 50% of the share of the authorized capital of OBIBANK Commercial Bank limited company. The parties plan to actively develop Internet banking services using advanced Japanese technology and a know-how.
This project is the next stage of cooperation between IFC METROPOL and SBI Holdings which began in December 2007 with signing of a memorandum of cooperation. In May 2009, IFC METROPOL and SBI Holdings concluded a contract about the creation of a management company in the Netherlands for the control of a joint fund totalling 100 million dollars, intended for investment in the shares of Russian companies. In December 2009, IFC METROPOL and SBI Securities realized a joint project trading Russian shares online within the framework of which access to trade in the shares of 50 Russian companies on the Moscow Interbank Stock Exchange was given to Japanese private investors.
SBI Holdings is a market leader of Internet banking in Japan. In 2007, SBI Holdings together with Sumitomo Trust & Banking created Internet bank SBI Sumishin Net Bank with an authorized capital of 25 billion yen (280 million dollars). A characteristic feature of the bank is work only on the Internet and with application of new technologies. As of December 2009, the number of client accounts with the bank totalled 637 000, and the volume of deposits exceeded 10 billion dollars. In 2008, The Asian Banker named SBI Sumishin Net Bank the Best Internet Only Bank of 2008.