Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Deputy President Kunitaro Kitamura is expected to succeed President Kazuo Tanabe in April, company sources said Monday.
Tanabe, 66, will likely become an adviser to the new trust bank to be created in April through a merger of group firms Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking Co. and Chuo Mitsui Asset Trust and Banking Co., the sources said.
They said the merged trust bank is expected to be headed by Kitamura, 59, as chairman and Sumitomo Trust President Hitoshi Tsunekage, 57, as president, according to the sources. Tsunekage will also serve as chairman of the holding firm.
Kitamura, a graduate of Keio University, joined the predecessor of Chuo Mitsui Trust in 1977. In addition to the vice president post at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, he has also been deputy president of Chuo Mitsui Trust since April.