Japan’s biggest financial institutions are determined to reinvent themselves as internationally competitive universal banks in spite of criticisms of their business model, according to the head of the Japanese Bankers Association.

“To play a significant role in world [financial markets] ... you need a fairly high level of universal banking [capabilities]. Without that you wouldn’t even be asked to participate in a deal,” Katsunori Nagayasu, chairman of the JBA and president of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, says in an interview with the Financial Times.