FUJI BANK, LTD.

one of Japan's largest commercial banks, with a network of offices, affiliates, and subsidiaries in Japan and overseas. Headquarters are in Tokyo. The bank originated in a money-lending operation established in the 1860s by Yasuda Zenjiro, the founder of the Yasuda business combine, or zaibatsu. In 1880 the business became the Yasuda Bank, the financial arm of the emergent combine. When the Yasuda zaibatsu was broken up after World War II, the bank was reorganized in 1948 under its present name. Fuji Bank provides services in retail banking, financial consulting, information, and international banking and finance, including foreign exchange. It has extended its mortgage-loan activities and also offers education loans. The bank is a commissioned bank, which allows it to handle bonds that are issued in yen denominations.