SAN FRANCISCO – The wealth management group of Union Bank of California, N.A., has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB) to perform probate and estate settlement services of the U.S.-based assets of deceased Japanese citizens for the benefit of their surviving heirs in Japan.
“We are seeing the numbers of Japanese citizens who have assets outside of Japan rise along with the increase in globalization,” said Mary Curran, executive vice president and head of wealth management for Union Bank. “Probate and estate settlements are services we can provide to families who are attempting to navigate the often complicated legal and financial laws here in the United States that are unfamiliar to surviving family members in Japan.”
Under the agreement, Union Bank will serve as the personal probate representative to the estates of deceased Japanese individuals in identifying, collecting, and remitting the U.S.-domiciled assets for the benefit of the Japanese heirs.
Assets may include a range of property such as residential and commercial real estate, securities, various bank and savings accounts, artwork, antiquities, and other holdings. Executors perform a number of duties including preparing and filing tax returns for the estate, and managing and assessing the value of real estate holdings for the benefit of heirs.
“Union Bank has capabilities that make this initiative a perfect fit for us,” said Curran. “First, we have a number of professionals who are bilingual in English and Japanese and second, we have programs and products that fit well with the Japanese market. Moreover, we intend to increase those product offerings.”
In addition, she added, the bank is uniquely positioned to expand on its relationship with MUTB beyond providing probate settlement services. Union Bank is a subsidiary of UnionBanCal Corporation. Its majority shareholder is part of the worldwide Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., which also includes MUTB as a wholly owned subsidiary. MUFG is one of the largest financial groups in the world based on total assets, providing a wide range of financial services to both domestic and global clients.
Based in San Francisco, UnionBanCal Corporation (NYSE: UB) is a bank holding company with assets of $55.7 billion at December 31, 2007. Its primary subsidiary, Union Bank of California, N.A., had 330 banking offices in California, Oregon and Washington, and 2 international offices at December 31, 2007. The company's Web site is located at www.unionbank.com.
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation is the core member and a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUTB, Japan’s largest trust bank, has a network of 77 branches, 15 satellite offices in Japan and 5 branches and 2 representative offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. As of September 2007, MUTB had trust assets of around $1,038 billion and the wills entrusted to MUTB reached around $50 billion. For more information, visit www.tr.mufg.jp.
