Japan Bank Says It Takes More Than Changing Dress Code to Shake Things Up

An SMBC employee walks toward the company’s head office on Sept. 2.Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg
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Japan’s second-largest bank wants to change the mindset of its staff. It made a start by upending its dress code, a revolutionary move in an industry dominated by dark suits and formal wear.

But that’s not enough, according to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. President Jun Ohta. “I am telling them: ‘Change your ideas, don’t just change your clothes,’” Ohta said Thursday at Bloomberg’s Year Ahead conference in Tokyo.