Finance

    31 October 2026
    Schwarzman, center, at an event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Schwarzman Scholars program at China's Tsinghua University.
    The transaction will exclude the Akasaka Prince Classic House, shown here. (Nikkei photo)
    Business deals

    Daiwa fund buy of Blackstone Tokyo office complex include retail digital securities

    Property in $2bn purchase occupies site of former Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka

    31 October 2026
    Chinese officials hold a news conference in Beijing on Oct. 30 following the conclusion of the Communist Party Central Committee's fifth plenum the previous day.
    Politics

    Who fell and who rose at China's fifth plenum

    Expulsions and promotions hint at military distrust, new generation of leadership hopefuls

    30 October 2026
    Schwarzman and his wife Christine, third from left, with other family members.
    My Personal History

    Family: Stephen Schwarzman (29)

    Find what you love -- and become great at it

    30 October 2026
    South Korea's Viva Republica will enter Japan through the purchase of Tokai Tokyo's Cheer Securities. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
    Business deals

    Operator of South Korea's Toss app to buy online Japanese brokerage Cheer

    Viva Republica pursues growing appetite for investing among younger consumers

    30 October 2026
    Taisuke Sasanuma, a co-founder of Advantage Partners, is a former Bain & Co. consultant and a pioneer of Japan's private equity industry. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Yuji Murakami)
    Wealth Management

    Japan's Advantage Partners eyes homegrown infrastructure fund

    Private equity firm and Japanese institutional investors drawn to opportunities in the asset class

    29 October 2026
    Kasikornbank CEO Kattiya Indaravijaya speaks during an interview in Bangkok. (Photo by Jiro Ose)
    Wealth Management

    Thailand's Kasikornbank taps AI to expand wealth management customer base

    CEO Kattiya says technology can help analyze needs, provide suitable services

    29 October 2026
    Shinya Yamanaka, right, a Nobel Prize-winning stem cell pioneer, was the first Japanese recipient of a philanthropic gift from Schwarzman.
    My Personal History

    The Philanthropist: Stephen Schwarzman (28)

    Investing in social change with a business mindset

    29 October 2026
    Mizuho's New York office. The Japanese bank group came to investment banking later than its domestic peers. (Mizuho Financial Group)
    Finance

    Mizuho's US track record pays off with role in Anthropic IPO

    Japanese financial group lands another listing of historic proportions after SpaceX

    29 October 2026
    Mirae Asset will discuss further cooperation with Okasan Securities, including selling exchange-traded funds to Okasan customers. (Mirae Asset Securities)
    Business deals

    South Korea's Mirae Asset to buy prop trading unit of Japan's Okasan

    Deal worth up to $32m shows foreign brokerages following investment firms into country

    29 October 2026
    Matsui Securities is a pioneer in Japan's online brokerage sector, but trails competitors in account numbers. (Photo by Nikkei)
    Finance

    Japan Post Bank weighs buying 20% stake in Matsui Securities

    Companies look to leverage bank's 120m accounts to expand stock trading

    28 October 2026
    A Mashreq Bank branch in Dubai: The institution is beefing up its presence in Hong Kong to capture more China-related business.
    Interview

    UAE bank Mashreq injects $125m into Hong Kong business as China ties deepen

    Dubai-based lender's CEO says Chinese companies are coming to build, not just sell

    28 October 2026
    ShopBack, led by Henry Chan, operates a platform that offers cashback on purchases made through more than 20,000 merchants. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Tsubasa Suruga and screenshot from Shopback's website)
    Startups

    Singapore's ShopBack to enter Japan next year through local businesses

    SoftBank-backed startup's CEO says no reward app for now due to intense competition

    28 October 2026
    Schwarzman, left, has played a key role in diplomacy between Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, and U.S. leader Donald Trump.
    My Personal History

    Statesman: Stephen Schwarzman (27)

    From postwar reconstruction to public service

    28 October 2026
    Containers seen at an industrial port in Tokyo.
    Finance

    Japan banks, fintech step up digital currency push for trade settlements

    Shoko Chukin, top banks develop systems ahead of adoption of digital documents

    28 October 2026
    An HSBC branch in Hong Kong: The bank's shares listed in the city fell after it reported its third-quarter results.
    Finance

    HSBC's third-quarter revenue misses estimates, shares slide

    Pretax profit rises 32% but wealth business performance underwhelms

    27 October 2026
    Circle, which listed on the NYSE in June 2025, is the issuer of the world's second-largest stablecoin, USDC.
    Cryptocurrencies

    Circle exec urges room for banks, startups in Asian stablecoin regimes

    World's second-largest issuer hopes for cross-border regulatory harmonization

    27 October 2026
    Jack Ma, left, a co-founder of Alibaba, helped spark Schwarzman's interest in artificial intelligence.
    My Personal History

    Twenty Years On: Stephen Schwarzman (26)

    One certainty: AI will play an ever larger role in our business

    27 October 2026
    An electronic board at the B3 in Sao Paulo shows financial market activity on Monday following the re-election of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
    Markets

    Trading halted in Brazil as stocks sink following Lula reelection

    Benchmark Ibovespa drops 10%, triggering automatic pause, exchange operator says

    26 October 2026
    Monday video meetings bring together Blackstone offices around the world to share ideas and identify emerging trends.
    My Personal History

    Culture: Stephen Schwarzman (25)

    There is no official motto, but hard work is expected of everyone

    26 October 2026
    Jon Gray, right, has served as Blackstone's president and chief operating officer since 2018 and is Schwarzman's right-hand man.
    25 October 2026
    The global physical AI market is projected to exceed $80 billion by 2035. (Nikkei graphic)
    Artificial intelligence

    Tokio Marine first Japan nonlife insurer to cover AI-enabled robots

    Premiums set to be 20% higher than regular industrial counterparts

    25 October 2026
    Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock.
    My Personal History

    Larry: Stephen Schwarzman (23)

    Parting ways with the future BlackRock founder was a costly mistake

    24 October 2026
    Japan's financial system would "maintain overall stability" the BOJ said in its report released on Oct. 23. (Photo by Nanami Sato)
    Finance

    Japan banks prepared to weather AI crash, global rate spike: BOJ stress test

    Central bank report finds institutions would keep sufficient capital ratios

    24 October 2026
    Shiga Bank and the parent company of Ikeda Senshu Bank are in talks for a merger, which would make them the largest such entity by combined assets in Japan's western Kansai region.
    Business deals

    Japan's regional banks in merger talks to form largest in nation's west

    Joining of Shiga Bank and Senshu Ikeda Holdings follows trend ahead of law expiring in 2030

    23 October 2026
    Schwarzman says he and Nicolas Sarkozy have become family friends.
    23 October 2026
    An aerial view shows the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Phoenix, Arizona, on Oct. 3, 2025. (Photo by Rebecca Noble)
    Opinion

    Tightening credit conditions put pressure on Asian investments in US

    Japan, South Korea and Taiwan must turn pledges into return-delivering projects

    23 October 2026
    Two key vulnerabilities were found in PHP, which runs on nearly 70% of all websites whose programming language can be identified.
    Cybersecurity

    AI-detected PHP security flaws disrupt websites, spark warnings across Asia

    Airlines and banks take precautionary action as governments urge updates

    22 October 2026
    A Lehman Brothers employee leaves the company's New York headquarters with a box after it filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008.
    My Personal History

    The Global Financial Crisis, Part 1: Stephen Schwarzman (21)

    Pushing for a short-selling ban on bank stocks to stem the panic

    22 October 2026
    PayPay Bank is joining Japan's top banks in outsourcing more systems work to India. (Source photos by Nikkei)
    Finance

    MUFG taps AI for back-office work as Japan banks bolster India IT teams

    South Asian nation's tech talent helping lenders move faster into digital services

    22 October 2026