Yuki Nitta and Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mizuho Financial Group plans to beef up its U.S. operations for M&A advisory and equity underwriting, its chief executive said, as Japan’s No. The world’s third largest bank aims to capture a larger share of the biggest investment banking fee pool.

This latest U.S. operation comes after Mizuho has in recent years increased its ability to underwrite debt there, following the 2015 acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland’s North American corporate loans portfolio.

Yet to be fully tapped by Mizuho in U.S. investment banking are M&A advisory and equity underwriting, Masahiro Kihara told Reuters in an interview. He said, “We are currently compiling and analysing our strategy to see if we can grow organically.”

His internal conversations include how to increase analyst coverage, which sectors to target, what to do with the trading team, as well as how to collaborate with them. He said that he declined further details.

Japanese banks struggle with extremely low home interest rates. Mizuho has been focusing on growth opportunities in the United States and Asia.

The U.S. fee pool from M&A advisory and so-called equity capital markets (ECM), where banks help companies raise equity capital, totalled $42.8 billion last year, according to Dealogic.

After a string of failures in the electronic banking system, Kihara assumed the leadership of Mizuho’s bank unit. This prompted an overhaul of the top management.

Mizuho is one the largest lenders to SoftBank Group Corp. This tech conglomerate’s finances are under severe pressure due to falling portfolio valuations and stock prices. As of March 2013, Mizuho had $6.6 billion ($850 billion) in outstanding loans to SoftBank.

When asked by SoftBank about its finances, Kihara stated that they were not concerned at all. He said that SoftBank is committed to its LTV (loan–to-value ratio) policy and other financial discipline, and they have mutual trust at the management level.

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