Japan's Mizuho could boost ties with BoA in Asia

TOKYO, Nov 19 - Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's second-largest bank, could strengthen cooperation with Bank of America in Asia, although it is not considering a capital tie-up now, the vice-president of Mizuho's corporate lending arm said on Wednesday.

The bank is also seeing a sharp increase in business with global, non-Japanese firms such as Volvo, as the credit crisis has waylaid many overseas banks, Yasuhiro Sato, deputy president of Mizuho Corporate Bank, told Reuters in an interview.

Mizuho injected $1.2 billion in U.S. investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co in January. Hit hard by subprime losses, Merrill is now due to be taken over by Bank of America later this year.

Given the Merrill investment and a previous relationship with Bank of America, Sato said the two banks could work together in Asia, where Bank of America has little presence, in areas such as asset management. (Reporting by David Dolan and Taro Fuse; Editing by Chris Gallagher)