TOKYO -- Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank parent Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings aims to cut its cross-shareholdings of about 1.4 trillion yen ($12.8 billion) to zero, Nikkei learned on Wednesday.

The financial company is the first major Japanese bank to decide on a policy to sell all cross-shareholdings. It plans to sell shares worth 250 billion yen in market price in two years, by March 2023.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust's decision, which is