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Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Type	Public (TYO: 8411 , NYSE: MFG)
Founded	2003 (from merger)
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Terunobu Maeda, President & CEO
Industry	Financial Services
Revenue	$32.172 billion USD (FY 2005)
Net income	$5.841 billion USD (FY 2005)
Employees	45,758 (2005)
Subsidiaries	Mizuho Bank, Ltd. Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. Mizuho Trust & Banking Co., Ltd.
Slogan	Channel to Discovery
Website	www.mizuho-fg.co.jp

Mizuho Bank Ginza Branch

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (株式会社みずほフィナンシャルグループ, Kabushiki-gaisha Mizuho Finansharu Gurūpu^?) (TYO: 8411 , NYSE: MFG), abbreviated as MHFG, or simply called Mizuho is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Its headquarters are located in the Otemachi district of Chiyoda ward, Tokyo, Japan. The name "mizuho (瑞穂, mizuho^?)" means "abundant rice" in Japanese.

Although Mizuho itself has only 250 employees, it holds assets in excess of $1.3 trillion through its control of Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank, and other subsidiaries. The company's combined holdings form the ninth-largest banking and financial group in the world measured by Tier 1 capital. In Japan, Mizuho is the third-largest company and second-largest banking group measured by assets and market capitalization, behind Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.^[1]

Mizuho annual income by division (2005).
1. Mizuho Bank
2. Mizuho Corporate Bank
3. Mizuho Trust
4. Mizuho Securities

Mizuho splits its business into four distinct divisions, on a global basis:

Mizuho is active in retail banking with 515 branches and over 11,000 ATM machines. Mizuho Bank is the only bank to have branches in every prefecture in Japan. It serves over 26 million Japanese households, 90,000 SME customers, and retail brokerage clients under the name Mizuho Investors Securities nationwide.

• Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
• Mizuho Investors Securities Co., Ltd.
• Shinko Securities Co., Ltd.
• Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.

Mizuho predecessors, the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (“DKB”), the Fuji Bank (“Fuji”) and the Industrial Bank of Japan (“IBJ”), had great control over many Japanese companies through keiretsu system. The three banks led the DKB Group, Fuyo Group and the IBJ Group respectively. The Fuyo Group traces its history as far back as the old Yasuda zaibatsu. Even now, seven out of ten companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange have dealings with Mizuho.^[2]

• Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
• Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd.

• Mizuho Trust & Banking Co., Ltd.
• Mizuho Private Wealth Management Co., Ltd.
• Dai-Ichi Kangyo Asset Management Co., Ltd.
• Fuji Investment Management Co., Ltd.
• DLIBJ Asset Management Co., Ltd.

• Mizuho Financial Strategy Co., Ltd., formerly Mizuho Holdings, Inc.
• Mizuho Research Institute Ltd.
• Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc.

Mizuho Financial Group headquarters, formerly Fuji Bank head office, in Otemachi, Tokyo.

Mizuho Bank head office in Uchisaiwaicho, Tokyo (see also Mizuho Bank Head Office Building)

Mizuho Corporate Bank head office, formerly the Industrial Bank of Japan head office, bordering MHFG HQ in Otemachi, Tokyo

Mizuho Securities Co. occupies Otemachi First Square, bordering MHFG HQ, in Otemachi, Tokyo

• Tokyo International Marathon

Mizuho was established originally as Mizuho Holdings, Inc. by the merger of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan in 2000.

Mizuho Holdings established Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. in January 2003. Subsequently, through a share exchange on March 12, 2003, Mizuho Financial Group became the sole shareholder of Mizuho Holdings, which in turn served as the holding company of all of the group's banking and securities units.

On October 1, 2005, all subsidiaries of Mizuho Holdings were transferred to the direct control of Mizuho Financial Group. Mizuho Holdings, no longer a bank holding company, was then renamed Mizuho Financial Strategy, which now focuses on providing advisory services.

• 1864 - Yasuda-ya is founded as a private company.
• 1883 - The Dai-Ichi Bank, Ltd. is established as the first bank in Japan.
• 1897 - The Nippon Kangyo Bank, Ltd. and the Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited are established as a governmental institution.
• 1912 - Yasuda-ya is incorporated and renamed Yasuda Bank.
• 1948 - Yasuda Bank is renamed the Fuji Bank, Limited.
• 1950 - The Nippon Kangyo Bank and IBJ are privatized.
• 1971 - The Dai-ichi Bank and the Nippon Kangyo Bank merge to form the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Limited.
• 1999 - DKB, Fuji and IBJ announce an agreement to consolidate the three banks' operations.
• 2000 - DKB, Fuji and IBJ establish a holding company named Mizuho Holdings, Inc.
• 2002 - DKB, Fuji and IBJ are officially and legally combined into two banks, Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
• 2003 - Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. takes over the operations of Mizuho Holdings virtually.

On December 8 , 2005 a data input error on a stock trade at the brokerage arm Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. caused a large loss and received a lot of publicity.

• Shoichi Nakagawa - Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (2003-2005)
• Kei Ogura - singer

• Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank
• Fuji Bank
• Industrial Bank of Japan
• Economy of Japan

• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
• Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mizuho Financial Group

• Mizuho Financial Group
• Mizuho Financial Group Inc. by Google Finance
• Mizuho Watch by Inner City Press

1. ^ "The Top 1000 World Banks 2006", The Banker, 3 July 2006.
2. ^ IR Presentation at “CLSA Japan Forum 2005” 07 March 2005