Profile

Yuko Kawamoto

Professor, Waseda Graduate School of Business and Finance

Yuko started her career at the Bank of Tokyo in 1982, and joined McKinsey & Company in Tokyo in 1988. She became Senior Expert in 2001, after spending four years in Paris office. She has been a Professor at Waseda University since 2004.

Currently she is a Trustee Director of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company (2011-) and a Trustee of US-Japan Foundation (2018-). From 2020 she became an independent director of SoftBank Group, Panasonic Corpration and Shinsei Bank.

She used to serve as an independent director to Japan Exchange (2004-2014), Resona Bank (2006-2011), Monex Securities (2006-2013), E-mobile (2007-2010), Yamaha Motor(2009-2013)and ITOCHU Corporation(2011-13). She was Advisory Board Member at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group from 2006 to 2013 and in 2013, she became an independent director (first female director for Japanese “Mega Bank”). She had chaired its Risk Committee(2013-2019). She was also an independent audit & supervisory board member of Tokio Marine Holdings (2006-2018). Other advisory roles were for Toyota Finance Corporation, a confectionery company and an airline.

With the expertise in macro-economic and governance issues, she has contributed to a number of government functions. During the administration of Prime Minister Koizumi, she joined a committee mandated to lead its major privatization project (2002-2005). She was also an advisor to Financial Services Minister Takenaka on Japanese bad assets problems (2003-2005). Other major appointments include a member of Prominent Persons Group on Lost Pension Record Issue in the first Abe Cabinet (2007) and Member of Space Strategy and Development Council in Cabinet Office (2010-2012). Most recently she was appointed as National Public Safety Commissioner, supervising National Police Agency (2014-2019).

She is teaching ‘Corporate Governance’ and ‘Comparing Financial Systems’ to Japanese and foreign graduate students both in Japanese and English.

Yuko holds a BA degree in Social Psychology from University of Tokyo, and a Master degree in Development Economics from Oxford University (St .John’s College).

2020 Aug.