UBS Rehiring of Toriyama Signals Bigger Japan Investment-Banking Push

UBS has rehired veteran banker Masazumi Toriyama to lead its Japanese unit’s global banking division, according to an internal memo confirmed by the Swiss lender. Toriyama, who spent 18 years at UBS before departing for Japan Global Industries, will take up the post on 4 August. He succeeds interim head Yasunori Saku, who will become chairman of Global Banking Japan. The appointment forms part of UBS’s push to enlarge its investment-banking footprint in the country. A spokesperson said the bank is targeting a 50 percent increase in the division’s headcount as overseas lenders vie for advisory mandates amid a pick-up in Japanese mergers and acquisitions driven by returning inflation and corporate-governance reforms. Foreign competitors are making similar moves: earlier this month Citigroup hired Akira Kiyota from Nomura and elevated Taiji Nagasaka as co-heads of investment banking for Japan, while France’s Natixis has opened a Tokyo branch to pursue energy-transition and digital-transformation deals. The cluster of hires underscores renewed confidence among global banks in Japanese deal activity.