Hiroshi Nakaso Keynote Speaker

Hiroshi Nakaso is a leading Japanese central banker and financial strategist with four decades of experience. As Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan (2013–2018), he helped steer policy and market operations through a period of profound change. Today he serves as Chairman of Daiwa Institute of Research and chairs FinCity.Tokyo, advancing Tokyo’s competitiveness as a global financial hub.

Joining the Bank of Japan in 1978, Nakaso played pivotal roles in crisis management—from Japan’s 1990s banking turmoil to coordinated responses during the Global Financial Crisis. He headed the Bank’s exit operation from its pioneering Quantitative Easing policy (2001–2006), bringing a practitioner’s perspective on normalization that resonates with policymakers and investors alike.

On the international stage, Nakaso has chaired key global groups, including the BIS Markets Committee and the Working Group on Financial Reference Rates, and contributed to the G20 Study Group on Commodities. His vantage point across central bank networks gives audiences rare, actionable insight into how cross-border decisions shape liquidity, currencies and risk.

Nakaso’s recent thought leadership includes his book The Last Line of Defense: Crisis and the Bank of Japan (Nikkei Business Publications, 2022). In 2025 he assessed “cracks” in dollar supremacy—arguing diversification will grow even as the dollar remains pre-eminent—and delivered high-level talks in Europe on navigating a shifting economic landscape. He also serves as Outside Director (Audit & Supervisory Committee Member) at NYK Line (2023–present) and chairs the University Funds Investment & Oversight Committee at Japan’s Science and Technology Agency.