Mizuho Financial Group CEO Tatsufumi Sakai has resigned after Japan's banking regulator hit the firm with a business improvement order related to a series of systems glitches.
Sakai quit after the Japanese megabank received its second order this year from the Financial Services Agency (FSA). The first order cost Mizuho Bank President Koji Fujiwara his job but with system failures continuing, Sakai has now also gone, along with several other senior executives.
In addition to the FSA order, Mizuho Bank has been given a "corrective action order" by the ministry of finance. Both orders, which follow lengthy investigations, demand a series of actions designed to prevent further issues.
In a statement, the bank says "we deeply apologise for the inconvenience and concern we have caused to our customers and society by allowing these system failures to occur repeatedly in a short period of time and, as a consequence, failing to adequately fulfill our role in facilitating smooth settlements and failing to adequately ensure thorough operations under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act of Japan".
Mizuho's annus horribilis began in February when around 80% of ATMs in operation were temporarily suspended while 5,244 bank cards and books were stuck in the machines. The bank has suffered another seven issues since, the most recent in late September.
The spate of glitches - some of which have been blamed on malfunctioning hardware from Hitachi - has undermined confidence in Mizuho - which was created through the merger of three banks more than 20 years ago - following large-scale system failures in 2002 and 2011.