JT Chairman Wakui Expected to Resign

Source from:  Yomiuri Shimbun 04/20/2012

Japan Tobacco Inc. Chairman Yoji Wakui is expected to resign from his post, it has been learned. President Hiroshi Kimura, 58, will likely take over as chairman, according to sources. With the resignation of Wakui, 70, who previously served at the Finance Ministry, JT will have a chairman and president without a ministry background for the first time since it was privatized in 1985. Kimura is currently in his third term as president, with June marking six years at the post. Executive Deputy Presidents Yasushi Shingai, 56, and Mitsuomi Koizumi, 55, have emerged as possible successors to Kimura, the sources said. In 1999, Wakui stepped down as director general of the ministry's Budget Bureau following a scandal involving an oil trader who was charged with tax evasion. Wakui reportedly received a painting from the trader. In 2004, Wakui was appointed to his current post after serving as vice chairman of what was then called the Marine and Fire Insurance Association of Japan Inc., now the General Insurance Association of Japan. Enditem