3. Business combination Integration among asset management companies On October 1, 2016, DIAM Co., Ltd. (DIAM), MHTB, Mizuho Asset Management Co., Ltd. (MHAM) and Shinko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Shinko Asset Management) (collectively, the Integrating Companies) integrated their asset management functions pursuant to an integration agreement signed on July 13, 2016. The integration was implemented through the following steps: (i) a merger between MHAM as surviving company and Shinko Asset Management as absorbed company; (ii) a company split between MHTB and MHAM (after the merger in (i) above) as successor company whereby rights and obligations attributed to Asset Management Division of MHTB were transferred to MHAM; and (iii) a merger between DIAM as surviving company and MHAM as absorbed company. After the integration, DIAM was renamed Asset Management One. As of September 30, 2016, MHAM was a wholly-owned subsidiary of MHFG and DIAM was an equity method affiliate of the MHFG Group which owned 50.0% of the voting equity interests. DIAM was a joint venture of MHFG and Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (Dai-ichi Life, formerly The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited), and the rest of the interests of DIAM was owned by Dai-ichi Life. On October 1, 2016, MHFG exchanged 30.0% of the voting equity interests in MHAM (after the split in (ii) above) for voting equity interests and non-voting equity interests in DIAM. As a result of the exchange, MHFG acquired 51.0% of the voting rights and 70.0% of the economic interests in Asset Management One, which became a consolidated subsidiary of the Group. Based on the strong commitment of MHFG and Dai-ichi Life to strengthen and develop their respective asset management businesses, Asset Management One aims to achieve significant development as a global asset management company, providing its customers with high-quality solutions by combining the asset management-related knowledge and experience accumulated and developed by each of the Integrating Companies over man