Japan's Higashi-Nippon Bank Ltd. and Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia Ltd. singed a preliminary agreement of cooperation, the Japanese bank said Oct. 6.

Under the terms of the agreement, customers of Higashi-Nippon Bank will have access to the Bank of East Asia's financial services, allowing them to open accounts and transfer money through the Hong Kong bank. Higashi-Nippon Bank will also offer the same services to Bank of East Asia's customers.

Higashi-Nippon Bank is a unit of Concordia Financial Group Ltd.