(The Center Square) – SMBC Group, a top-tier Japanese multinational financial services conglomerate generally recognized as one of three megabanks in the country, is investing $50.5 million into a second American headquarters in North Carolina.
Charlotte, No. 2 banking center in America only behind New York City, was chosen by the Tokyo headquartered financial institution. An estimated $76 million incentive package helped with the lure – $70.3 million in the Job Development Investment Grant program from the state, $1.3 million from Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and $4.4 million in workforce training funds through the state’s community college system.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group offers global banking, securities, leasing, and consumer finance. It holds total assets of approximately $2.02 trillion to $2.06 trillion in U.S. dollars.
“As SMBC continues to grow substantially in the United States, Charlotte is a standout location for us to invest in North Carolina for the long term in a major expansion that will establish our roots in the community,” SMBC Americas CEO Hirofumi Otsuka said in a statement. “A major financial services hub, Charlotte has a deep pool of talent that we will tap into and help build out as we position our bank for long-term success while contributing to the broader local economy.”
The company expects to add 2,000 jobs paying an average annual salary of $165,316. The state Commerce Department, in a release, said average pay in Mecklenburg County of $90,706.
Economists question the effectiveness of financial incentives to businesses to expand or come to a new state. Context is encouraged when wages are introduced because a few corporate leaders at a site can skew the average higher while the median wage would not have the same ratio.
“Japan is one of North Carolina’s top economic partners, and I’m honored to welcome another, leading Japanese company to our state,” first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement.
Last month, a state board Thursday approved a $17.1 million grant for a private investment management company that plans to open an East Coast hub in Charlotte. Capital Group, headquartered in Los Angeles, will invest $60 million in the Charlotte office and employ 600 people, the state said.
SMBC has 150 offices in nearly 40 countries, employing 120,000 people worldwide. Its roots date back more than 400 years and it has been operating in the U.S. for more than a century.
Charlotte, with a long history as a banking and financial services hub, continues to be a magnet for new company headquarters. For the last two years, it has ranked second on Site Selection magazine’s list of best cities in the U.S. for corporate headquarters.
Last year, it was selected for global or regional headquarters by Scout Motors, Maersk North America and Daimler Truck Financial.
