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UFJ Holdings, Inc. (株式会社UFJホールディングス, UFJ; Kabushiki kaisha yūefujei hōrudingusu) was the weakest among the three major banking groups in Japan. "UFJ" is an abbreviation of "United Financial of Japan", was formed from a merger of Sanwa Bank and Tokai Bank with the Toyo Trust & Banking Co. Ltd, a part of the Toyota Motor Corporation. At the time, it was one of the largest shareholders of Toyota. The Chairman of Toyota was a director on its board during the financial scandals and indictments of three UFJ executives. The banking crisis led to its merger, after being one of the world's greatest losing corporations, on October 1, 2005, with the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group to form the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Formed April 1, 2001, with the merger of Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank, and Toyo Trust and Banking.
In July 2004, UFJ announced plans to merge with the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group. The merger was completed on October 1, 2005, creating the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the world's second biggest bank by assets at $1.7 trillion, trailing behind Citigroup with $2.4 trillion in assets.
In June 2011, UFJ took a 99.9 percent stake in Lynas Corp, the Australian rare earths developer, after buying an additional 10%.