Japanese e-commerce company has revealed that it is preparing for the initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Rakuten Bank.

Rakuten, which did not disclose the financial details of the listing, is yet to receive approval from relevant authorities.

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In addition to that, the firm stated that based on the results of the examination in the preparatory process plans of the listing may or may not materialise.

“Rakuten Bank believes that through the listing of its shares, it will be possible to carry out management with a more autonomous perspective, and to consider various growth and financial strategies, including its own financing,” the company said.

Established in 2000, the online bank has approximately $233m in share capital and its main shareholder is Rakuten Card.

Rakuten, which has a $15bn valuation, is facing tough competition on multiple fronts.

The firm incurred a loss of JPY65.4bn ($590m) from its mobile segment in the first half of 2021.

“If the equity funding proceeds as planned in the next 12 months or so, we believe Rakuten can mitigate a souring of its finances as a result of upfront investments in its mobile unit,” Makiko Yoshimura analyst at S&P Global Ratings was quoted by Reuters as saying.

In other Japanese banking news, in July this year, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG Bank) announced plans to get rid of in-person service counters

MUFG Bank is Japan’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest, with offices throughout Japan and in 40 other countries.

Recently, MUFG pulled the plug on US retail banking with an $8bn US Bancorp deal.