Seeing growth potential, Natixis plans to double banking staff in Japan
Makoto Kawamura, formerly head of JPMorgan Chase Bank's Japan treasury and chief investment office in Tokyo, joined Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking as Japan treasury head in June, according to a spokesperson. The firm also recruited Hideaki Sugahara, who was a director at Societe Generale, as corporate coverage head.
"There's a big potential for us to expand in Japan,' Bruno Le Saint, CEO of corporate and investment banking for Asia Pacific, said in an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday. "We aim to double' the number of employees for the firm's banking business in Japan from the current 68 over "the next five to seven years,' he said.
The move comes as Paris-based Natixis starts a new banking branch in Tokyo on Tuesday, in the latest sign of a global financial firm vying for business opportunities in Japan as companies improve governance.
The lender is targeting corporate clients as well as global private equity and infrastructure funds with its banking products and industry expertise, it said by email.
"One of the reasons why we are very excited is some of our global clients — private equity firms, infrastructure firms — are looking to come into Japan and they want to rely on people they know well' to secure transactions, Le Saint said. "This is exactly what we want to do.'
Kawamura has three decades of experience in financial markets, covering areas ranging from foreign exchange and derivatives to corporate finance, the spokesperson said. Sugahara has spent more than two decades managing corporate relationships, including through his stint of more than 10 years at Societe Generale.
Natixis's Tokyo Branch is restarting under a banking license obtained in May, after three years of operating under a money-lender permit, in a change that will help it broaden its range of financial services, according to a release. Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking announced five hires in Japan in February last year, part of its Asia-Pacific expansion.
The French bank's separate securities subsidiary in Japan had 90 employees as of the end of December, according to filings.
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