Nikkei Virtual Global Forum: International Financial Hub ~ Japan’s role

International Financial Hub - Japan's prospects

Online Streaming「International Financial Hub - Japan's prospects」 Decembar 2 (Wed.),2020

Video Archives

Video Archives will be available from December 8 (Tue) 21:00(JST)
Registration is required to watch Video Archives.

Video Archives Registration

SPEAKERS

*Honorifics and titles omitted, names in no particular order.

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As Hong Kong’s status under “one country, two systems” wavers following China’s imposition of a tough national security law on the city, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared his intention to turn Japan into an international financial hub. A major objective of this strategy is to provide an impetus for the revitalization of Japan’s post-COVID economy by attracting regional headquarters of international financial institutions, highly qualified workers and investment money. Similar plans in the past have come and gone without much success. What kind of reforms should Japan implement to take advantage of the new opportunity? How determined are the public and private sectors for reforms? In a special edition of the Nikkei Virtual Global Forum, we will focus on the prospects and the challenges ahead for Japan’s plan with inputs from experts in the US and UK.

OUTLINE

Nikkei Virtual Global Forum
"International Financial Hub - Japan’s role"
Live Streaming: December 2(Wed),2020,8:50-17:30 (JST) Video Archives: December 8(Tue),2020,21:00- (JST, Tentative) Pre-registration is required. A lottery may be held if there are more applicants than
available network capacity.
*English and Japanese simultaneous interpretations will be available during this forum.
Fee
Free of charge.
Registration deadline
Live Streaming: December 1(Tue),2020(JST)
Archives: January 31(Sun),2020(JST)
Organized by
Nikkei Inc.
Sponsors
Atsumi & Sakai Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Japan Exchange Group KPMG Japan Mizuho Financial Group Mori Building Nomura Holdings Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Official Media
Nikkei Asia

PROGRAM

(as of November 18, 2020)
*Honorifics and titles omitted, names in no particular order.
**English and Japanese simultaneous interpretations will be available during this forum.
***Please be advised that agenda, speakers, presentation themes are subject to change.

8:50

Opening

15:30 - 16:00

Special Speech: "Tokyo: Realizing a Global Financial Center"

Yuriko KoikeGovernor of Tokyo

Video Archives Registration

INQUIRY

nvgf-if@creative-net.co.jp
Heizo Takenaka

Heizo Takenaka

Professor Emeritus, Keio University

Dr. Heizo Takenaka is a professor at Toyo University and a professor Emeritus at Keio University and a Senior Research Fellow of Japan Center for Economic Research. He was Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications (2005-2006). He was named to the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum in 2007.
In 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi named Professor Takenaka the Minister for Economic/Fiscal Policy, in which position he spearheaded Japan’s economic structural reform.
In 2002, he was named the Minister for both Financial Services and Economic/Fiscal Policy. In this capacity, he accomplished the disposal of non-performing loans of Japanese banks, which had hindered the Japanese economy for more than 10 years.
In 2004, he was elected to the House of Councilors, and was named the Minister for both Economic/Fiscal Policy and Privatization of the Postal Services. In this capacity, he realized the privatization of Japan Post, the biggest public enterprise in Japan.
In 2005, he was named the Minister for both Internal Affairs and Communication, and Privatization of the Postal Services. The following year, Professor Takenaka returned to academia. He received his B.A. in economics from Hitotsubashi University and his PhD in economics from Osaka University.

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Akihiro Nakaso

Hiroshi Nakaso

Chairman, FinCity.Tokyo; Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan

Hiroshi Nakaso was appointed chairman of the Daiwa Institute of Research (DIR) in July 2018 after completing his term as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan. He served as the Deputy Governor of the BOJ since March 2013. In his 39 years at the Bank, his main responsibilities have been crisis management of financial systems and markets focusing on global systems.
Mr. Nakaso joined the Bank of Japan in 1978. He dealt with the homegrown financial crisis of the 1990s. He headed the exit operation from the Quantitative Easing Policy, a prototypical unconventional policy that lasted from 2001 to 2006. In addition, he played an instrumental role in addressing the Global Financial Crisis together with his peers at major central banks including the FRB.
He has participated in numerous international meetings, and during his terms as Director-General of the Financial Markets Department and Assistant Governor, he chaired the BIS Markets Committee and Working Group on Financial Reference Rates, the G20 Study Group on Commodities and several other international forums.
Nakaso was appointed chairman of a new organization to promote Tokyo as a global financial center. The new organization is known by its abbreviated name, “FinCity.Tokyo”.

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Yuriko Koike

Yuriko Koike

Governor of Tokyo

Profile of the Governor
Born:
July 15, 1952, in Hyogo Prefecture
Education:
BA in Sociology, Cairo University (October 1976)
Career:
July 2020
Re-elected to a second term as Governor of Tokyo
July 2016
Elected Governor of Tokyo
October 2011
Director, Committee on Budget, House of Representatives
September 2010
Chairperson, General Council, Liberal Democratic Party
July 2007
Minister of Defense
September 2006
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security Affairs
September 2004
Minister of the Environment and Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
September 2003
Minister of the Environment
July 1993
Member of the House of Representatives
July 1992
Member of the House of Councillors

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Yasutoshi Nishimura

Yasutoshi Nishimura

Minister for Economic Revitalization

A member of the House of Representatives, Yasutoshi Nishimura currently serves as minister in charge of economic revitalization, minister in charge of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, minister in charge of Novel Coronavirus Disease Control, minister in charge of social security reform, and. He has held other positions in government such as parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs and deputy chief cabinet secretary.
A graduate of the University of Tokyo, Nishimura also holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.

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Gillian Tett

Gillian Tett

Chair of the Editorial Board and Editor-at-Large,
US, Financial Times

Gillian Tett is Chair, Editorial Board, and Editor-at-large, US at the Financial Times.
She previously served as US Managing Editor, leading the Financial Times’ editorial operations in the region across all platforms. She writes weekly columns for the FT, covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues throughout the globe. Ms. Tett served as Assistant Editor, US Managing Editor from 2010 to 2012, and prior to this Assistant Editor responsible for the FT’s markets coverage. Other roles at the FT have included Capital Markets Editor, Deputy Editor of the Lex column, Tokyo Bureau Chief, Tokyo Correspondent, London-based economics reporter and a reporter in Russia and Brussels. In 2014, she was named Columnist of the Year in the British Press Awards and also received the Royal Anthropological Institute Marsh Award. She is the author of The Silo Effect: Why Putting Everything In Its Place Isn’t Such A Bright Idea (Simon & Schuster, 2015), New York Times bestseller Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Little Brown, UK and Simon and Schuster, US, 2009), and Saving the Sun: A Wall Street Gamble to Rescue Japan from Its Trillion Dollar Meltdown (Harper Collins, 2003). Before joining the FT in 1993, Ms. Tett was awarded a PhD in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University, where she also earned her Bachelor’s degree.

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Akira Amari

Akira Amari

Chairperson, Research Commission on the Tax System, Liberal Democratic Party

Akira Amari was born on August 27, 1949, in Kanagawa, Japan, located just south of Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with a major degree in political science, he joined Sony Corporation in 1972.
Two years later, he started working for his father Tadashi Amari, who served as the Member of the House of Representatives.

In 1983, Amari began his own political career. He was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time, and is currently serving his twelfth consecutive term.

Amari has held numerous positions in multiple administrations and in the Liberal Democratic Party including:

-Minister of Labor (1998-Obuchi administration)
-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (2006- Abe administration, Fukuda administration)
-Minister of State for Regulatory Reform, Administrative Reform, and Civil Service Reform (2008- Aso administration)
-Chairman, Policy Research Council, LDP (2012-)
-Chairman, Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters, LDP(2017-)
-Chairman, Election Strategy Committee, LDP(2018-)
-Chairperson,Research Commission on the Tax System,LDP(2019-)
-Head, Strategic Headquarters on the Creation of a New International Order, LDP(2020-)
-Head, Headquarters for the Promotion of a Digital Society, LDP(2020-)

In December 2012, Amari was appointed as the Minister for Economic Revitalization, and the Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Amari’s responsibilities covered policy-making and implementing Abenomics, negotiating and reaching agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal, and initiating corporate tax reform. He has been chosen as one of the "50 Most Influential" people in global finance in the 2013 edition of Bloomberg market magazine.

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James Stavridis

James Stavridis

Operating Executive, The Carlyle Group

Admiral James Stavridis is an Operating Executive of The Carlyle Group, following five years as the 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. A retired 4-star officer in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander with responsibility for Afghanistan, Libya, the Balkans, Syria, counter piracy, and cyber security. He also served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command, with responsibility for all military operations in Latin America from 2006-2009. He earned more than 50 medals, including 28 from foreign nations in his 37-year military career.

Earlier in his military career he commanded the top ship in the Atlantic Fleet, winning the Battenberg Cup, as well as a squadron of destroyers and a carrier strike group – all in combat. In 2016, he was vetted for Vice President by Hillary Clinton and subsequently invited to Trump Tower to discuss a cabinet position in the Trump Administration.

Admiral Stavridis earned a PhD in international relations and has published nine books and hundreds of articles in leading journals around the world. His 2012 TED talk on global security has close to one million views. Admiral Stavridis is a monthly columnist for TIME Magazine and Chief International Security Analyst for NBC News, and has tens of thousands of connections on the social networks.

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Toshiyasu Iiyama

Toshiyasu Iiyama

Representative Director, Deputy President, Nomura Securities

Toshiyasu Iiyama was appointed Representative Director, Deputy President, Nomura Securities, in April 2020. In June 2019, Mr. Iiyama also took on the role of President & CEO of Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research. He also serves as Head of the China Committee, Nomura Holdings.
Prior to his current roles, Mr. Iiyama was Head of Asia ex-Japan from April 2015 to March 2017.
Mr. Iiyama previously served as a Senior Managing Director of Nomura Securities in Investment Banking in Japan with responsibilities for Capital Markets, Syndicate, Solutions and Asset Finance.
During his career spanning over 30 years with Nomura, he has spent most of the time in the firm’s capital markets business as Executive Vice President of Nomura Securities, Head of Asia Investment Banking, Head of Fixed Income for Asia Pacific and Head of Syndicate before becoming a Senior Managing Director in 2012.
Mr. Iiyama holds an MBA degree from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the U.S.A., and a B.A. in Commerce from Waseda University in Tokyo. He is also a CFA® charterholder.

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Akihiro Nakaso

Takehiko Nakao

Chairman, Mizuho Research Institute ; Former President, Asian Development Bank

Mr. Takehiko Nakao is currently the Chairman of the Institute at Mizuho Research Institute Ltd. Concurrently, he teaches as Visiting Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and Graduate School of Public Policy, the University of Tokyo.
From April 2013 to January 2020, Mr. Nakao served as President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Mr. Nakao was the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs between 2011 and 2013. Mr. Nakao gained extensive experience in international finance and development since he joined the Ministry of Finance in 1978. He worked as advisor at IMF's Policy Development and Review Department between 1994 and 1997.
Mr. Nakao holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo (1978) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California-Berkeley (1982).

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Masahiko Oshima

Masahiko Oshima

Deputy President, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Masahiko Oshima is the Deputy President and Head of Global Business at both Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).
Mr. Oshima is an experienced international banker and has spent 18 years working in London, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Since joining the bank in 1984, he has been responsible for many aspects of SMBC Group's business, including large corporations in both international and domestic markets, debt and equity capital markets, mid-cap corporates and transaction banking. Mr. Oshima also has significant experiences in strategic planning, regulatory compliance, governance, cyber security, and investor relations through his assignments as Senior Managing Director responsible for corporate planning as well as Head of EMEA, CEO of SMBC Europe, GM of Planning, Americas Division, and GM of Investor Relations.
Mr. Oshima holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Married with two daughters.

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Kurt Tong

Kurt Tong

Former U.S. consul general to Hong Kong

Ambassador Kurt Tong is a Partner at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s work in Japan and the broader East Asia region. Before joining The Asia Group, Ambassador Tong was an American diplomat for 30 years. From 2016 to 2019, he served as Consul General and Chief of Mission in Hong Kong and Macau, leading U.S. political and economic engagement with that important free trade hub. Prior to that role, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department from 2014 to 2016, guiding the Department’s institutional strengthening efforts as its most senior career diplomat handling economic affairs. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 2011 to 2014, where he played a key role in setting the stage for Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ambassador Tong also served as Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2011, leading the U.S. chairmanship of the organization during one of the most productive periods for APEC.

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Keiko Tashiro

Keiko Tashiro

Deputy President, Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Education
March 1986
BA, Political Science, Waseda University
June 1991
MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
October 2011
Advanced Management Program, Harvard Business School
Business Career
April 2020
Member of the Board
Deputy President, Corporate Executive Officer
Head of Overseas Operations
Head of SDGs
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
Deputy President, Member of the Board
Head of Overseas Operations
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
April 2019
Member of the Board
Deputy President, Corporate Executive Officer
Head of Overseas Operations
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
Deputy President, Member of the Board
Head of Overseas Operations
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
April 2016
Member of the Board
Senior Executive Managing Director, Corporate Executive Officer
Head of Overseas Operations
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
Senior Executive Managing Director, Member of the Board
Head of Overseas Operations
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
June 2014
Member of the Board
Executive Managing Director, Corporate Executive Officer
Deputy Head of Overseas Operations & Head of Americas
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer
Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings Inc.
April 2013
Executive Managing Director & Head of Americas
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer
Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings Inc.
April 2012
Senior Managing Director, Head of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
April 2011
Senior Managing Director, Head of Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities
Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. Ltd.
April 2009
Senior Managing Director, Head of Online Products and Daiwa Direct Division
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
July 2005
General Manager, Daiwa Direct Planning Department
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
July 2004
Head of Investor Relations
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
July 1999
Deputy General Manager, Investor Relations
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
January 1995
Executive Director, Debt Syndication
Daiwa Europe Limited
July 1993
Vice President, Equities
Daiwa Singapore Limited
April 1986
International Underwriting Department
Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.
Professional Qualification
Memberships
Chartered Financial Analyst
Council for Promoting the SDGs in the Securities Industry at The Japan Securities Dealers Association.
Global Future Council on Financial and Monetary Systems at the World Economic Forum
Harvard Business School Japan Advisory Board

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Roger Gifford

Roger Gifford

Chair, City of London's Green Finance Institute; Senior Banker, SEB

Sir Roger Gifford is a Senior Banker at SEB in London. He read Chemistry at Oxford University and began his career in the financial sector at S.G. Warburg & Co, joining SEB in 1982. Prior to his appointment as UK Country Head (2000 – 2016) Roger headed the bank's operations in Japan for six years. He has worked in and around the primary debt and equity capital markets most of his career.

Roger is Vice Chairman and past Chair of the Association of Foreign Banks (AFB) in London and Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange (IBDE). He was Chair of the London Green Finance Initiative launched in 2016 to further the contribution of the financial sector to the G20 climate agenda and chaired the UK Government’s Green Finance Taskforce in 2018. Roger is also Chairman of the Green Finance Institute, launched in 2019, which has the economics, risk and commercial opportunity of meeting the challenge of climate change as its main focus. Roger was Lord Mayor of The City of London in 2012 – 2013.

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Suneel Bakhshi

Suneel Bakhshi

Chair, Japan Advisory Group, London Stock Exchange Group

Suneel became President & CEO of Mizuho International plc in January 2019.

Suneel joined from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), where he served as CEO of LCH Group, the global clearing house majority owned by LSEG, for four years until October 2017. He retains strong links with LSEG where he continues to serve as honorary Chairman of LSEG’s International Advisory Groups.

Prior to the position at LCH, Suneel was President & CEO, Citigroup Global Markets, Japan. Suneel spent more than 30 years at Citigroup, working in multiple asset classes across Trading, Banking and Risk Management and was a member of Citi’s Management Committee. During his career he has lived and worked in Europe, North America, Asia and Middle East.

Suneel has been a Governor of the Royal Ballet School in London from 2014 until 2019, and earlier, from 2011 until 2012. He is a keen student of Indian philosophy.

Suneel holds an MBA in Finance from Queens University in Canada, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Delhi, India.

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Shingo Tsuji

Shingo Tsuji

President and CEO, Mori Building

Date of Birth
September 9, 1960
Career:
March 1985
Graduated from the Graduate School, Division of Engineering, Yokohama National University (Architecture Major)
April 1985
Joined Mori Building Co., Ltd.
August 1999
Senior Manager, Project planner, Roppongi 6-chome Area Redevelopment Project Promotion Headquarters
August 2001
Senior manager, Town Management Preparatory Office
August 2005
Manager, Roppongi Hills Management Division and Manager, Town Management Department
July 2006
Director; Manager, Roppongi Hills Management Division and Manager, Town Management Department
June 2008
Managing director; Manager, Town Management Department
August 2008
Managing director; Manager, China Business Division and Town Management Department
January 2009
Managing director; Acting manager, Leasing Operations Division
December 2009
Executive Vice President In charge of Corporate Planning Office, Leasing Operations Division, and Town Management
June 2011
President and CEO

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Seiji Imai

Seiji Imai

Senior Managing Executive Officer, Mizuho Financial Group

Professional Experience
Apr. 2020
Senior Managing Executive Officer Head of Corporate & Institutional Company Head of Global Products Unit Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Apr. 2019
Deputy President & Executive Officer Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Apr. 2018
Senior Managing Executive Officer Head of Global Corporate Company Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Apr. 2018
Senior Managing Executive Officer Head of Global Corporate Division Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Apr. 2016
Managing Executive Officer Head of Asia Oceania Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.
Managing Executive Officer Head of Asia Oceania Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Apr. 2014
Executive Officer General Manager Seoul Branch Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
July 2013
General Manager Corporate Banking Division No.12 Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
(Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. merged, and Mizuho Corporate Bank, the surviving company, changed its trade name to Mizuho Bank, Ltd.)
Apr. 2011
General Manager Corporate Banking Division No.12 Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
Apr. 2010
Joint General Manager Corporate Banking Coordination Division Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
Oct. 2007
Deputy General Manager Americas Leveraged Finance Division Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
June 2004
Deputy General Manager Corporate Banking Division No.7 Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
Oct. 2003
Deputy General Manager Uchisaiwaicho Corporate Banking Division No.3 Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.
Apr. 2002
Senior Manager Advisory Team No.3, Advisory Group No.1 Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd
Apr. 1986
Joined our group
Education:
Mar. 1986
Graduated from Kyoto University Faculty of Law
Personal Data:
Born
June 25, 1962

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Yuri Suzuki

Yuri Suzuki

Senior Partner, Atsumi & Sakai

Yuri Suzuki has 19 years’ experience working on a wide range of financings, with a particular reputation for banking and finance, including domestic and international syndicated loans, securitisation, fintech, and financial services regulations. She has worked at a leading domestic securities company and an international financial institution as a secondee. Ms. Suzuki is the auditor of The Organization of Global Financial City Tokyo (branded as FinCity.Tokyo) (2019-). She also serves as a member of the Individual-type Pension Policy Formulation Committee of the National Pension Fund Association, Vice-Chair of the International Financial Law Conferences Subcommittee of the Banking Law Committee of the International Bar Association, and Vice-Chair of the Banking, Finance & Securities Committee, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. Ms. Suzuki has been recognised as a leading fintech professional adviser by Chambers, and is consistently recognised as a leading lawyer for banking and finance in IFLR 1000, The Legal 500, asialaw Profiles and The Best Lawyers in Japan. She was also included in The A-List: Japan's Top 100 Lawyers published by Asia Business Law Journal.

Ms. Suzuki has a Bachelor of Laws from Waseda University (1997) and an LL.M. from New York University (2005). She was admitted as an attorney (Bengoshi) in Japan in 2001 and as an attorney in New York in 2006; she joined the firm in 2001, spent about a year on secondment to the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis in 2005-2006, and was made a partner in Atsumi & Sakai in 2008.

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William Russell

William Russell

Lord Mayor of the City of London

Alderman William Russell took office as the 692nd Lord Mayor of the City of London on 8th November 2019. He served as a Sheriff of the City of London in 2016-17 and, in that capacity, supported the then Lord Mayor, undertaking numerous visits and official functions. On 30th September 2020 William was elected to serve a further year in office, to provide continuity of civic governance during the Coronavirus emergency.

His mayoral theme for his time in office is “Global UK – The New Future”, supporting businesses through the COVID19 crisis, speeding the recovery and seizing the opportunities of the new future.

William has over thirty years’ experience in the financial and business City including holding senior positions in the national and international Banking sector. In 1987 he went to work for First Boston Corporation before joining Merrill Lynch in 1992 as an Investment Banker in Institutional Equity Sales, working in Asia, New York and London. William is currently Chair of CDAM, a London based Asset Management business and Senior Advisor to STJ Advisors.

William served on the Board of Innovate Finance, the industry body for the UK based Fintech community and is also an educational entrepreneur, as the co-Founder and Chair of Knightsbridge School and a Director of Knightsbridge School International (KSI). William is a member of the Campaign Board for Durham Inspired, a landmark philanthropic campaign focused on ensuring Durham remains at the forefront of learning, research and education for generations to come.

Alderman Russell has a number of charitable interests; he has served as Chair of the Development Board of the Royal Court Theatre, he is a Board Member of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is on the Council of the Royal Theatrical Support Trust. He is immediate past Chair of Prostate Cancer UK and is currently Deputy Chair of Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity. As of July 2019 he is a member of the Barbican Centre Board.

William was elected Alderman for the Ward of Bread Street in March 2013 and has since served on a number of the City of London Corporation Committees including the Policy and Resources Committee and the Education Board. William is also a Governor of the City of London School for Girls and is a past Governor of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls, Adams Grammar School and Abraham Darby Academy.

William is a Court Assistant to both the Haberdashers’ and the Feltmakers’ Livery Companies, as well as an Honorary Liveryman of the Paviors’ Company.

Alderman Russell was born in London in 1965 and was educated at Eton College and Durham University. He is married to Hilary who also went to Durham University. They have four children: Edward (27), Nicholas (24), Alistair (22) and Helena (17). His interests include cricket, tennis, rugby and the theatre. William has a strong family history with the City of London. He is the fifth member of his family to be Lord Mayor in the past 110 years. His grandfather, Sir Ian Bowater, was Lord Mayor exactly 50 years ago from 1969 to 1970 and his great grandfather, Sir Frank Bowater, was Lord Mayor from 1938 to 1939.

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Kiyomi Uchi

Kiyomi Uchi

National Lead Partner of Advisory Services for Financial Sector of KPMG Japan

Kiyomi heads the Advisory Services for Financial Sector at KPMG Japan. He joined the firm in 1999 after a 16 year long career at the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan including working for New York Branch and US Primary Dealer Subsidiary.

His client portfolio includes major Japanese financial institutions, major foreign financial institutions, major global institutions and many Financial Service Providers.

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Akio Fujii

Akio Fujii

Chair of Editorial Committee, Nikkei Inc.

Since he joined in 1985, he has held various positions with Nikkei, including being the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance correspondent, New York Bureau Correspondent, Chief Correspondent for economic affairs at Washington Bureau from 1998 to 2002, London based Senior Writer from 2009 to 2011 and Washington Bureau Chief from 2012 to 2014.

He has also served as Senior Editor for International News Department, Editor-in-Chief for Nikkei Asian Review from 2015 to 2016, Senior Managing Editor, Head of Global News Operations from 2016 to 2017, Senior Editorial Writer from 2017 to 2020.

He covered issues related to global governance, economic policy and international finance.

Fujii obtained his BA in Economics from Waseda University in Tokyo.

Main publication:
G20-The Great Game in 21stCentury (2011, Nikkei)
Yellen’s Federal Reserve(2013 Nikkei)
Introduction for Japan’s Economy(2018 Nikkei) Ambition of Libra(2019 Nikkei)

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Lionel Barber

Lionel Barber

Former editor, Financial Times

Lionel Barber is the former editor of the Financial Times. As editor from 2005 until January 2020, Barber helped to transform the FT from a newspaper publisher into a multi-channel global news organisation. During his editorship the FT won many international awards for its journalism.

Barber has co-written several books and has lectured widely on foreign policy, transatlantic relations and economics. As editor, he interviewed many of the world’s leaders in business and politics, including: US President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani. Many of those exchanges in his 15 year editorship are recounted in his latest book, “The Powerful and The Damned.”

Barber began his career in journalism in 1978 as a reporter for The Scotsman. He then moved to The Sunday Times as a business correspondent and joined the FT in 1985 as a business reporter. During his FT career, he has also served as Washington correspondent, Brussels bureau chief, news editor, European editor, US managing editor and the editor.

Barber serves on the Board of Trustees at the Tate and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He graduated in 1978 from St Edmund Hall, Oxford University with a joint honours degree in German and modern history and speaks fluent French and German.

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