ONE of Japan's largest financial institutions, Sanwa Bank, is to close its Dublin subsidiary with the loss of four jobs.

Sanwa is the first company with an IFSC licence to close its Dublin facility, but a spokesman for bank said that the decision to cease operations "did not reflect on the abilities of the staff ... nor on the supportive environment which the Irish regulatory bodies have provided".

The Sanwa spokesman said the decision to wind up the Irish subsidiary was due to the current Japanese economic situation, and tax changes in other countries which had had an adverse impact on the Irish operation.

A spokesman for IDA Ireland, which is responsible for, marketing the IFSC abroad, said that other Japanese banks in Dublin had a larger range of business than Sanwa, and added that he did not expect further closures.