Masahiro Kihara
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He became head of the holding company's project team for enhancing risk governance in January 2014, Executive Officer of Mizuho Securities in April 2017, Managing Executive Officer in April 2020 and Managing Executive Officer of the holding company in April 2021. In February 2022 he became Executive Officer, President and Group CEO. Like Tatsufumi Sakai, he moved to the top of the holding company not from the presidency of the bank but from hands-on work in securities and risk management.
Selection
Following the business improvement order of November 26, 2021, Tatsufumi Sakai announced his resignation, and Mizuho Bank President Koji Fujiwara and Chairman Yasuhiro Sato also stepped down. The successor appointments were announced on January 17, 2022, the day the group submitted to regulators a business improvement plan containing about 200 measures to prevent recurrence. Further outages occurred around the handover, on December 30, 2021 and January 11, 2022. He was appointed from the rank of Managing Executive Officer.
Initiatives
In November 2022 Mizuho Securities acquired 19.99% of Rakuten Securities from Rakuten Securities Holdings for about ¥80.0 billion, and in December 2023 added 29.01%, raising its stake to 49.00%. The stake was held at 49% because taking a majority would make it a subsidiary subject to heavier regulation. In May 2023 the group announced the acquisition of Greenhill, a US M&A advisory firm, at an enterprise value of about $550 million, or about ¥76.0 billion, and made it a wholly owned subsidiary on December 1. The mid-term management plan published that May stated that mortgage loans would be reduced.
Career
Career
Mizuho Financial Group
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jan 2014 | リスクガバナンス高度化PT長 (translation pending) |
| Apr 2017 | Executive Officer, Mizuho Securities |
| Apr 2020 | Managing Executive Officer |
| Apr 2021 | Managing Corporate Executive Officer |
| Feb 2022 | Corporate Executive Officer, President, Group CEO |
| Jun 2022 | Director and Corporate Executive Officer, President, Group CEO |