Masato Kanda, director general of the International Bureau of the Finance Ministry. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The government plans to name Masato Kanda, director general of the International Bureau of the Finance Ministry, as Japan's new top currency diplomat, government sources said Tuesday.

       Kanda, 56, who will succeed Kenji Okamura as vice finance minister for international affairs, also serves as chair of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Corporate Governance Committee.

       The appointment is expected to be announced after a two-day in-person gathering of the finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies to be held in Italy next week, at which they aim to reach a broad agreement on global tax issues involving around 140 countries and regions, according to the sources.

       Okamura has been leading the ministry's negotiations on international corporate tax reforms, including the introduction of so-called digital taxation and a common minimum tax rate for globally operating companies. Kanda joined the Finance Ministry in 1987 and has been head of the International Bureau since July 2020.

       Other sources have said the government is likely to name Koji Yano, director general of the ministry's Budget Bureau, as vice finance minister, the top administrative post at the most powerful ministry in Japan. Yano was once a private secretary of then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, now Japanese prime minister.

       At the Financial Services Agency, Junichi Nakajima, head of its Strategy Development and Management Bureau, will lead the financial watchdog, replacing Ryozo Himino, according to the sources.

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