The board of Japan Post Corp., the holding company formed in January to prepare for the privatization of the country's postal system, appointed its eight senior executives Tuesday, including Sakon Uda, principal at McKinsey & Co., and Akira Uno, former chairman of SMBC Consulting Co., company officials said.
Most of the other executives come from Japan Post, the public corporation for postal services, and the Financial Services Agency, according to the officials. The appointments will take effect March 6 for Uda and March 21 for the others.
The selection of the executives is designed to ensure smooth operations at the new joint-stock company, industry sources said.
The management is still having difficulty selecting the presidents of four new companies that will handle mail delivery, post office operations, postal savings and insurance services as part of the privatization, which is scheduled to begin in October 2007.
Uda, 50, served in 2004 as a member of a blue-ribbon government panel that was formed to draw up the legislation authorizing postal privatization.
Uno, 63, was previously a director at the former Sumitomo Bank, which is now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., and became chairman of SMBC Consulting in 2003.
The eight executives will be tasked with determining business models for the four corporate entities and transferring Japan Post staff and assets to the four firms.