Businessmen to head 4 Japanese postal entities after privatization
The government on Tuesday announced the appointment of private-sector businessmen as chief executive officers of the four companies to be created through the privatization of postal services in October 2007.
Koji Furukawa, a 68-year-old senior adviser to the president at Mitsubishi Corp., will take the helm of the postal savings bank, while President Josuke Shindo, 61, of Tokio Marine & Nichido Systems Co., will become the CEO of the postal insurance company, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka said at a press conference.
The top post of the mail delivery service company will be assumed by Norio Kitamura, 64, chairman of Toyota Motor Italia, and the company in charge of over-the-counter services at post offices will be headed by Shigeo Kawa, a 59-year-old corporate officer of Ito-Yokado Co., Takenaka added.
The selection of the four CEOs has taken time because the management of the four companies will be “truly difficult” in view of their large-scale operations and legal restrictions, Takenaka said.
The government had earlier decided to appoint a banker to head the postal savings entity that will become Japan’s biggest bank, with outstanding deposits of more than 200 trillion yen. But the decision later was rescinded due to opposition from the banking sector over fears that the postal savings unit will weigh on private banks.
Attending the press conference together with Takenaka, Yoshifumi Nishikawa, 67, former president of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and head of Japan Post Corp. — which will become the holding company of the four postal units when they are established, said, “I don’t think there will be a threat” to private banks from the postal savings entity “in the real sense of the term.”
The four appointed CEOs will initially become board members of Japan Post and join its preparatory committee for the privatization of postal services before taking the helm of the new units.
