Mizuho names senior executive Kihara as next CEO

Japan’s third-biggest lender Mizuho Financial Group has appointed senior executive officer Masahiro Kihara as its next CEO, replacing Tatsufumi Sakai effective February 1, 2022. The appointment follows a series of electronic system failures since last year that led to the resignation of the group's CEO, chairman, and head of its main banking unit, as the bank failed to tackle long-running banking system failures and transform its corporate culture. Kihara, a graduate of Duke University School of Law, joined one of Mizuho's predecessor banks, Industrial Bank of Japan, in 1989 and also worked at the group's securities arm. He is the elder brother of Japan's deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara. Mizuho also appointed Seiji Imai, the head of Mizuho's corporate banking business, as its new chairman to replace Yasuhiro Sato in April.