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Yasuhiro Sato
CEO, Mizuho Financial Group
Age:
Years as a CEO:
Tenure: 0
Industry: Finance
CEO DOSSIER
Yasuhiro has worked hard streamlining Mizuho Financial Group, reducing its top-heavy management structure and expanding its overseas business. But will he achieve his goals of international growth?
early years
Born in April 1952, Yasuhiro graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in economics in 1976 and started working for the Industrial Bank of Japan the same year. He carried on working for the company until it combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd and Fuji Bank Ltd in 2000 to form Mizuho. In the late 1980s he worked in New York, building close ties with global financial institutions. He rose up through the ranks becoming the executive officer of Mizuho Corporate Bank’s international banking unit in March 2003. In April 2004 he became Mizuho Corporate Bank’s managing executive officer.
By March 2006 he was promoted to managing director and head of Mizuho’s corporate banking unit before becoming deputy president and chief auditor in April 2007. He used his experience in the US to lead the deal to invest $1.2 billion in Merril Lynch and Co, now part of Bank of America Corp through the purchase of preferred shares in 2008.
In April 2009 he became president and CEO of Mizuho Corporate Bank. In this role he announced plans to expand the bank’s business into Myanmar, Laos and Bangladesh to take advantage of growing markets. He told Reuters: “We need to pay attention to these countries because they will become markets that cannot be ignored.” He said Mizuho would also expand its network in China and India and that he would like to extend the company’s ties with Brazil with the view to possibly opening a branch there.
Yasuhiro was named CEO of Mizuho Financial Group in May 2011. He took over from Takashi Tsukamoto after malfunctions in the retail bank’s computer system delayed more than $10 billion of transactions after the earthquake in Japan in March 2011. This caused stock in Mizuho Financial Group to plummet by 13% and a regulatory probe was launched.
As ceo
Yasuhiro took a 30% salary cut for his first three months as CEO. One of his first challenges was to try and overcome falls in the loans market to achieve a third year of profit growth. Tough conditions meant he had to quickly make some difficult decisions to make the group more cost-efficient, announcing plans to axe 3,000 jobs in November. He also immediately started working to speed up the process of unifying the divisions of the bank with the target of integrating the administrative and systems operations of Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd, Mizuho Bank Ltd and Mizuho Trust & Banking Co by March 2013.
He said: "We'll speed up working toward becoming one entity." And he admitted that Mizuho’s management structure was top heavy, saying: “Earlier, it was kind of hard to tell who was really in charge of the company.”
Yasuhiro also started looking at ways to expand the group outside of Japan. In September 2011 he made an agreement to buy a 15% stake in the Vietnamese state-owned lender Vietcombank for about $570 million. In December 2011 – six months after taking the helm – Yasuhiro signalled he was looking to buy an investment bank in Asia to speed up the group’s slow growth. He said he was also keen to buy asset managers and hedge funds in Indonesia, India and Singapore. He said he wanted to increase the number of Mizuho’s corporate banking unit’s Asian branches outside Japan from 33 to 50 by 2016. This will include opening another seven branches in China as well as offices in India, Myanmar and Turkey. One of the aims of expanding in corporate banking is to earn more in advisory and underwriting fees to make up for the slump in demand for loans.
In an interview in December 2011, Yasuhiro said: “Our power to originate deals currently is still far from enough. We have to strengthen our capability in capital markets. It will be a big challenge to do it alone.”
By June 2012 Yasuhiro’s plans to expand in China had started to bear fruit as the company opened its 14th branch in the country in Hefei, an inland city about three hours from Shanghai by high-speed rail. And plans for another three Chinese offices were in the pipeline.
Yasuhiro has worked to make Mizuho Financial Group more streamlined and efficient, making changes to IT systems and corporate management structures. In January 2013 Mizuho Securities and Mizuho Investors Securities merged and in February 2013 an agreement was signed to merge Mizuho Corporate Bank and Mizuho Bank with the deal due to complete in July. The merger and other reorganisation efforts are expected to cut costs by 30 billion yen over three years, boosting revenue by 60 billion yen over the same period.
Yasuhiro said: “By creating this group structure, we aim to maximize our differentiating features and our advantages as the only financial group in Japan with banking, trust banking and securities functions under one umbrella and, thereby, further improve customer convenience.”
In February 2013 Yasuhiro was still keen to buy an Asian investment bank by 2016, although he signalled that the group may also look to purchase a U.S commercial bank.
Away from work
Yasuhiro is married with two children.
Leadership and philosophy
Yasuhiro is an efficient and decisive leader, able to make tough decisions to make sure the company he runs is working effectively. This was displayed by the way he reorganised he management structure of Mizuho Financial Group. He says:
“It wasn't functioning because we had three top executives—for the financial group, the wholesale banking unit and the retail banking unit—that had delayed decision-making. Now as sole chief executive, I can take action more swiftly. My big task was figuring out how I should change the old management structure, which maintained a balance in power among the three original banks [Dai-Ichi Kangyo, Fuji Bank and Industrial Bank of Japan, which merged in 2002 to form Mizuho Financial].
“I'm from Industrial Bank of Japan, and some people might think that compromises my impartiality, so we hired an outside consulting firm in 2011 that observes our executives' performance objectively. We've built a system that makes people feel fairly evaluated.”
Yasuhiro has a global outlook, perhaps influenced by the time he spent working outside Japan in New York and he is keen for his employees to keep an international focus. He says:
“For an executive trainee, a command of English above a certain level is necessary. I've attended many international meetings and realize that executives in Asia—including Myanmar, Mongolia, Laos—all speak English. Japanese have to be like that. We can't force our employees to speak English as our official language at the bank like [Japanese Internet shopping site] Rakuten Inc. did, given the scale of our company. But we can't become a global bank unless we overcome the language barriers.
“Cross-border exchange in overseas workers is another way to accelerate globalization. If an employee in Singapore hopes to work in Shanghai, we'll make it possible. We're also considering promoting non-Japanese staff to regional head positions as early as this year.”
He also aims to motivate his staff by reminding them of the vital role they play in society. He says: “Bankers don't create products like manufacturers, so it's hard to visualize what role we play and what we contribute. I've told my employees that we should take pride that we can contribute not only to economic development but to people's happiness.”
His main philosophy in business is that customers must come first. He says: “All of us, the management and the employees, will ask ourselves the question, ‘What are the best services we can offer to each of our customers?’”
Our Three Questions
1. How successful have you been at implementing your ‘customer-first’ philosophy across all of your group businesses?
2. You have spoken of your desire to expand Mishuo Financial Group in countries other than Japan. How essential do you feel international growth is to the company and why?
3. You spent time working in New York in the 1980s, what were the main lessons you learnt there?
Date Written
07-05-2013Sources
Mizuho Financial Group
Bloomberg
Boardroom insiders
Reuters
The Japan Times
The Guardian
Wall Street Journal
Mizuho Financial Group
Bloomberg
Boardroom insiders
Reuters
The Japan Times
The Guardian
Wall Street Journal
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Latest News
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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. 8306 3.31 % and Mizuho Financial Group Inc ... “There’s no doubt the company still has potential for growth,” Yasuhiro Sato, Mizuho’s president, said of Sharp. The president of MUFG, Nobuyuki Hirano, said ... read more...
2015-05-15 21:30:36
Japanese Lenders Say Sharp Can Rebound
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. 8306 3.31 % and Mizuho Financial Group Inc ... “There’s no doubt the company still has potential for growth,” Yasuhiro Sato, Mizuho’s president, said of Sharp. The president of MUFG, Nobuyuki Hirano, said ... read more...
2015-05-15 21:30:36
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2015-05-15 09:13:18
Mizuho and SMFG join Tokyo 2020 Gold Partner Programme
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Mizuho in talks to take on 130 to 200 employees from RBS’s US unit
Tokyo Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to hire as many as 200 people from Royal ... give Mizuho a way to expand in the US after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn’t be viable. read more...
2015-04-06 13:27:08
Mizuho in talks to take on 130 to 200 employees from RBS’s US unit
Tokyo Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to hire as many as 200 people from Royal ... give Mizuho a way to expand in the US after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn’t be viable. read more...
2015-04-06 13:27:08
Mizuho said in talks to hire as many as 200 RBS US Staff
[TOKYO] Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to hire as many as 200 people from Royal ... give Mizuho a way to expand in the US after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn't be viable. read more...
2015-04-06 10:35:20
Mizuho said in talks to hire as many as 200 RBS US Staff
[TOKYO] Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to hire as many as 200 people from Royal ... give Mizuho a way to expand in the US after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn't be viable. read more...
2015-04-06 10:35:20
Mizuho Said to Hire as Many as 200 RBS Employees in U.S.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. plans to hire as many as 200 people from Royal ... employees give Mizuho a way to expand in the U.S. after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn’t be viable. read more...
2015-04-06 07:22:04
New Basel Capital Rule Would Hurt Economy, Japanese Banker Says
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2015-03-31 17:01:51
New Basel Capital Rule Would Hurt Economy, Japanese Banker Says
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2015-03-31 16:26:03
Mizuho Financial Japan bank body head - fog remains over global regulation
Proposed changes in how to allocate risk weightings and other risk calculations "could put considerable constraints on financial institutions," Yasuhiro Sato ... future economic stress. Sato, president of Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Japan's second-largest ... read more...
2015-03-31 16:04:35
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2015-03-31 15:57:25
INTERVIEW-Japan bank body head fog remains over global regulation
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2015-03-31 11:54:02
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
Nobuhide Hayashi), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., (NYSE MFG) ("Mizuho"; President and Group CEO, Yasuhiro Sato), and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS") have reached a definitive agreement for the acquisition by Mizuho ... read more...
2015-02-26 13:06:14
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
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2015-02-26 13:06:14
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
Nobuhide Hayashi), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., (NYSE MFG) ("Mizuho"; President and Group CEO, Yasuhiro Sato), and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS") have reached a definitive agreement for the acquisition by Mizuho ... read more...
2015-02-26 12:37:36
Mizuho Financial Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
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2015-02-26 12:30:26
Mizuho Financial Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
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2015-02-26 12:30:26
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
Yasuhiro Sato, President and Group CEO, Mizuho Financial Group, said, "This transformational transaction further accelerates the expansion of Mizuho's corporate and investment banking activities in North America, and is consistent with our long-term ... read more...
2015-02-26 12:30:26
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
Yasuhiro Sato, President and Group CEO, Mizuho Financial Group, said, "This transformational transaction further accelerates the expansion of Mizuho's corporate and investment banking activities in North America, and is consistent with our long-term ... read more...
2015-02-26 12:30:26
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2015-02-26 11:11:42
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (ADR) In Talks To Buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC US Loan Assets
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSERBS) is considering selling its North American loan and derivative assets for several billion dollars to Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group ... According to Mizuho CEO Yasuhiro Sato, purchasing loans in the US, rather ... read more...
2015-02-26 11:11:42
Acquisition of North American Asset Portfolio From RBS
Nobuhide Hayashi), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., (NYSE MFG) ("Mizuho"; President and Group CEO, Yasuhiro Sato), and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS") have reached a definitive agreement for the acquisition by Mizuho ... read more...
2015-02-26 07:29:48
Mizuho reportedly to buy RBS loan assets for several hundred billion yen
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. will pay several hundred billion yen for North ... Purchasing the loans gives Mizuho a way to expand in the U.S. after Chief Executive Officer Yasuhiro Sato said in December that buying a regional bank there wouldn’t be ... read more...
2015-02-26 06:32:32
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Financials
Business summary
Employees: 56,109
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking and financial services in Japan and internationally. The company offers retail banking services, including housing and personal loans, credit cards, deposits, investment products, and consulting services; and corporate banking services comprising loans, syndicated loan arrangements, structured finance, advisory services, other banking services, and capital markets financing services. It also provides derivatives and other risk hedging products; and securities services to individuals and corporate customers, as well as engages in proprietary trading, such as foreign exchange and bond trading, and asset and liability management. In addition, the company offers securities services to corporations, financial institutions, public sector entities and individuals; trust and asset management services; and investment banking services comprising advisory services for financial and capital strategies, bond underwriting and structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, and financial advisory services. Further, it provides wealth management services; products and services related to trust, real estate, securitization and structured finance, pension and asset management, and stock transfers; non-banking services; information technology services, including system integration and outsourcing services, advisory services to financial institutions, as well as consulting services related to environmental issues. The company serves large corporations, financial institutions, public sector entities, foreign corporations, foreign governmental entities, individuals, small and medium enterprises, middle-market corporations, local governmental entities, and other public sector entities. As of March 31, 2012, it had 434 branches in Japan. Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
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