An investor group led by Softbank, Orix and Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. purchased NCB in 2000 for ¥80 billion.

However, Softbank was unsuccessful in obtaining the cooperation of the Financial Services Agency, and sold its 49% stake to Cerberus Capital Management in September 2003 for ¥101 billion.

On December 16, 2008, Aozora Bank announced that it had ¥12.4 billion exposure to the Bernard L. Madoff ponzi scheme.

[13] Aozora's head office is located in the Kudan area of Chiyoda City, Tokyo, near Yasukuni Shrine.

The bank has retail branches in Chiba, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka (Namba and Umeda), Sapporo, Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokyo (Ikebukuro, Jiyugaoka, Nihonbashi, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ueno) and Yokohama.