Goldman Sachs Group Inc. tapped new leadership for its Japan business to replace a long-standing investment banker stepping down after 38 years.
Shinichi Yokote, Kenro Tsutsumi, Yoshihiko Yano, Etsuko Kobayashi and Shogo Matsuzawa will comprise a newly formed leadership group in the country to coordinate and help oversee the business, the bank said in a memo dated Nov. 19. The move follows news last week that the US investment bank’s long-serving Japan president, Masanori Mochida, is stepping down.
Mochida, 68, will retire from the firm at the end of the year, and become a senior director at that time, according to a separate internal memo sent on the same day. The firm is focused on determining a longer term succession plan that builds on the veteran banker’s impact, it said.
Hiroko Matsumoto, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman for Goldman, confirmed the content of the memo and declined to elaborate on the changes.
The firm is regrouping as global investors signal renewed interest in corporate Japan while companies work to overhaul governance and grow more willing to accept shareholder activism.
Goldman Sachs is ranked 14th for Japan-related announced mergers and acquisitions so far this year, compared with its ninth place ranking last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It had the top spot in 2021.
Here are more details of the executives in the new leadership group:
- Shinichi Yokote, chairman of FICC and equities in Japan. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2000 as a vice president for fixed income, currencies and commodities sales
- Kenro Tsutsumi, deputy head of the FICC and equities sales group in Japan. He joined the bank in 2003. Tsutsumi will join Kobayashi as co-head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management Japan as the opportunity to grow this business and provide a differentiated offering to clients becomes larger and more attractive, according to the memo
- Yoshihiko Yano, head of mergers and acquisitions in Japan. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as an associate in the investment banking division
- Etsuko Kobayashi, president of Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Japan and serves on the Asia Pacific client and business standards committee. She joined the firm in 1994 as a vice president in derivatives marketing within the fixed income division in Tokyo
- Shogo Matsuzawa, head of the technology, media and telecom group within the investment banking team in Tokyo. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as an advisory group associate, primarily responsible for mergers and acquisitions transactions.
--With assistance from Manuel Baigorri and Russell Ward.
(Updates with more details throughout story)
