Yokohama Specie Bank
The financial group dates back to 1880 as the Yokohama Specie Bank, later renamed to The Bank of Tokyo. Also in 1880, The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. was founded by former samurai Yataro Iwasaki. In 1919, the Mitsubishi Bank financed the Mitsubishi "zaibatsu", most of which is today Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. After the Second World War the Mitsubishi Keiretsu was broken up under US imposed laws, and Mitsubishi Bank took on greater independence, albeit still central to the financing of the growth of the Mitsubishi group of companies.