The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is going to appoint a former Toyota Motor Corp. official as head of a new bank that will finance small and midsize companies.
Yasumasa Nishi, 62, is an auditor at Toyota Tsusho Corp., sources said Monday.
He is being tapped for his career achievements in accounting and financial matters for the Toyota Motor group as well as his experience of handling turnaround efforts at Tomen Corp. as vice president of the trading house, they said.
On Friday, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara unveiled a plan to buy the Japanese trust banking unit of French financial group BNP Paribas for the launch of the bank, which it plans to form next fiscal year.
The sources said Nishi is scheduled to assume the position of chief executive officer.
The metropolitan government is expected to present concrete plans for the new bank to the assembly later this month before setting up a company by March 31 to conduct preparatory work on the bank's founding.
It would be the first bank in Japan set up by a local government.