The president of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. pledged Tuesday to improve corporate governance, including through the establishment of oversight committees, to prevent any more scandals involving loans to yakuza.

"We will try to regain the public's trust through renewed efforts to sever ties with antisocial groups," Yasuhiro Sato, president and chief executive officer of Mizuho Financial Group, said at a shareholders' meeting in Tokyo.

"I deeply apologize for causing trouble and stirring concerns," when the firm's core banking unit Mizuho Bank lent money to gangsters through credit company Orient Corp.