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Bloomberg
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) named Senior Managing Executive Officer Akihiro Fukutome as its next president, as the Japanese lender seeks to attract a younger generation of customers and build up businesses in Southeast Asia.
The appointment will be effective from April, according to a statement from the core banking unit of Japan’s second-largest lender Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.
The choice of the 59-year-old marks an unusual ascension path at Japan’s major banks that typically promote longstanding executives. Fukutome is currently co-head of Sumitomo Mitsui’s global banking unit that oversees the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and rejoined the lender last year. He was previously president of Toyota Motor Corp’s finance unit.
Sumitomo Mitsui employs more than 28,000 people and has more than 450 branches in Japan, according to its website. In Southeast Asia, which Sumitomo Mitsui sees as its second home market, the lender has made a string of acquisitions in its search for growth.