Tomohiro Yamazaki

Head of Governance Planning Department

Tomohiro Yamazaki is Managing Director, General Manager, and Head of the Governance Planning Department for SMBC Group in the Americas, where he is responsible for the company’s corporate governance, regulatory affairs, systems, human resources, legal, and operations functions. Tomohiro is based in New York.

Before his appointment to his current role in October 2021, Tomohiro was a Managing Director and General Manager with the Planning Department for SMBC Group in the Americas, where he had oversight for regulatory affairs.

Until July 2020, Tomohiro was Group Head of Regulatory Affairs and General Manager of the Corporate Planning Department for both SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), where he was responsible for strategic planning for international regulatory development and recovery and resolution planning.

Beginning in 2012, Tomohiro was with SMBC's Corporate Planning Department, where he engaged with industry associations, including the Japanese Bankers Association, the Institute of International Finance, and the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), representing SMBC and SMFG in both domestic and international regulatory issues.

In addition to his SMBC and SMFG roles, Tomohiro was Joint General Manager of the Office of Japanese Bankers Association when the SMBC Group CEO assumed chairmanship of the Association in 2019.

Prior to his role with the Corporate Planning Department, Tomohiro was Head of Financial Research in the company’s New York office, where he spent 12 years covering macro economy, business strategy, and regulatory developments in the U.S.

Tomohiro was seconded to The Institute for Posts and Telecommunications Policy with The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Japan from 1998 to 2000 and served as an economist following several positions at both an SMBC branch and the Tokyo head office from 1994 to 1998.

Tomohiro has a Bachelor of Economics from Keio University.