Japan Goes Out: 
The Recovery and Expansion of Japan’s Financial Sector Overseas


Discussion: After two decades of slow recovery from crisis, Japanese banks have regained their position among the world’s most active financial players. From North America to Emerging Asia, Japanese firms have rapidly expanded their exposure, seeking greater yields and more attractive economic prospects. With greater exposure come greater risks and more complex corporate governance requirements. How are the Japanese banks currently positioned vis a vis peers, and what are their biggest challenges?

Ken Takamiya
Managing Director, Head of Asia-Pacific Banks & Other Financials Research
Equity Research Department
Nomura Securities Co., Ltd.

Ken Takamiya joined Nomura Securities in August 2009. He started his working career at the Bank of Tokyo (currently Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ) in1992. At the bank, he worked in Yokohama, Madrid (Spain), and Tokyo, and also studied at the University of Salamanca and University of Barcelona in 1995. He was mainly dedicated to capital markets business at the bank, such as securities brokerage & trading, derivative structuring & sales. He joined Nomura Asset Management in 2000 as buy-side financial sector analyst, and then worked at Credit Suisse First Boston Securities in Tokyo and Mizuho Securities as sell-side bank analyst. He was ranked third (sector: Japanese banks) by Institutional Investors in 2014. As a bank analyst, he tries to distinguish himself with his global insight gained through his working experience in the industry outside Japan and knowledge of the industry from both an academic and professional point of view. He has a BA from Keio University, and an MA from the Open University of Japan.