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Sumitomo Trust & Banking’s headquarters today
Sumitomo Trust & Banking marks 80 years of doing business in 2005, fulfilling its social responsibility and social mission as a trust bank grounded in the principles of confidence and sincerity. |
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To meet society’s expectations, in April 1925, a memorandum of understanding was distributed, proposing to set up a trust company and naming eight people as its promoters, led by 15th head of the Sumitomo family, Tomoito Sumitomo (1864–1926). Sumitomo Trust & Banking’s corporate philosophy is set out in this document, based on the assumption that “the trust business is a public service, and a trust company is a public service organization”: “The fundamental components of the trust business are always confidence and sincerity. Hence, a trust must itself declare that trusts are the final product of the credit system. Further, trust companies must not be founded or managed for profit, and being grounded in absolute confidence and ultimate sincerity, its foundations must be strong and sound, and its management safe and assured.”
The trust business was also described as “a business essential to society’s existence” that embodied the Sumitomo spirit of valuing “integrity and sound management”. In this way, Tomoito Sumitomo projected the management ideals of Sumitomo’s 400 years in business onto its first trust business in Japan.
The new sales office of the Sumitomo Trust Company opened its doors on September 2, 1925, on the third and fourth floors of a building where one of Sumitomo Bank’s Osaka branches was located. The ultimate policy of giving top priority to soundness and safety was reflected in a smaller capital base and work force than the first two trust companies set up in Japan, as well as in the decision to share office premises despite the inconvenience. This management attitude gradually won the confidence of customers, and the company—with its mainstay money trusts that play the same role as time deposits—quickly increased its market share. |
