Kanetsugu Mike had big shoes to fill when he became president and chief executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) in April this year. His predecessor, Nobuyuki Hirano, who is now the group chairman, was the most visible of all Japanese bankers and the profession’s most articulate spokesman on the global stage.
But Mike, pronounced mee-kay, was surely the closest possible equivalent to the man he succeeded. Like Hirano, Mike is an internationalist who incorporates his global experience into Japanese banking. He has worked for the bank in London and twice in New York, eventually becoming regional executive for the Americas, and was in charge of the integration of Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya, serving as vice-chairman of the Thai bank in the process.
Also like Hirano, he believes in breaking down some of the more staid corporate traditions of Japanese banking and favours more open dialogue.
