Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc announced Friday a plan to integrate management in April 2011 that will create Japan’s largest trust bank. By reinforcing their management through the integration, the two lenders aim to better compete in the deteriorated business environment in the wake of the global financial crisis.
   
The gross assets of the new trust bank would total around 36 trillion yen, surpassing those of current leader Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. It would be the fifth-largest lender among Japanese banking groups. ‘‘The business environment has become very severe and its prospects are uncertain,’’ Chuo Mitsui President Kazuo Tanabe said at a press conference, referring also to the increasing need for banks to brace for tougher capital requirements.