For November Luncheon speaker, AJS welcomed Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman of the Board, Tokyo Stock Exchange(TSE) Group, Inc., AJS Board of Director and the Advisor to the Board of Toshiba Corporation on November 29, 2007 at Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Mr. Nishimuro talked about his challenges as a new comer to the financial service industry in becoming the Chairman and the President of Tokyo Stock Exchange despite his broad and long experience as an executive of a major industrial company and a governmental advisor. He explained that a breakdown of the TSE’s computer and the system problems were the happening and by that he was called upon to lead the TSE. Although he felt unprepared, he was able to apply the lessons he learned as an executive to help the TSE cope with its IT problems.

Mr. Nishimuro then discussed the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s future plans, especially its global strategy. He stressed that among the current international competition, the TSE was taking prompt and strong reinforcing actions internally and globally to make TSE a winner in the world stock exchange competition.
In advance of increasing internet transactions volumes, the TSE has been rapidly strengthening its processing capacity for a tremendous amount of necessary ICT investment.

The TSE also started to talk about developing business relations with the other international stock exchanges including NY. Although Mr. Nishimuro was a new comer in the stock exchange world, he and NY Stock Exchange President John Thain have been friends since both served as co-chairs for U.S.-Japan Government and Private Sector Dialogue back in 2002. In 2006 there were many M&A deals among world wide stock exchanges and he cited the NYSE and Euro Next in France as the examples of global stock exchange mergers and acquisitions. He said that the TSE would continue its efforts for global exchange.