Japan's No. 3 lender Mizuho to appoint senior executive Kihara as new CEO -source

FILE PHOTO: Mizuho Financial Group logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan August 20, 2018. Picture taken August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

By Yuki Nitta

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group will appoint senior executive officer Masahiro Kihara as its next chief executive who will be tasked with tackling long-running system failures, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The depth of those problems at Japan's No. 3 lender was underscored again on Tuesday when Mizuho's main banking arm reported yet another disruption.

The latest glitch affected its corporate online banking services, with some corporate clients unable to log into the system, a spokesperson said. It was fixed after a few hours.

A separate source said Mizuho will announce the new chief on Monday, when it reports measures to prevent system failures to the banking regulators after they reprimanded the bank for "undermining the credibility of Japan's bank settlement system."

The sources declined to be identified as the matter is still private. A Mizuho spokesperson said nothing has been decided.

Kihara, a graduate of Duke University School of Law, joined one of Mizuho's predecessor banks, Industrial Bank of Japan, in 1989. He also worked at the group's securities arm. The 56-year-old Kihara is the elder brother of deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara.

The group's CEO, chairman and the head of the main banking unit are all stepping down by April to take responsibility for the glitches. Mizuho's technical problems have continued despite a $3.6 billion overhaul of its systems in 2019.

(Reporting by Yuki Nitta and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Edwina Gibbs)

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