[FinTech]Advisory Committee to be Established in the FinTech Field – Collaborating with Experts to Generate New Finance Business –

On this occasion, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (hereinafter "Mizuho"; President & Group CEO Yasuhiro Sato) will establish an advisory committee made up of experts in various fields in order to strengthen its proactive approach to new technologies.

As a result of technological advances, recently a large number of companies are crossing industry lines and entering the field of finance in succession. Within this environment, Mizuho has been pursuing collaborations with various companies, including holding the Mizuho FinTech Forum last year.

In order to further promote these efforts, Mizuho will establish an advisory committee with the aim of generating new finance business based on speedy and discontinuous ideas, and without insisting on undertaking everything on its own.

In addition, Mizuho will launch a meeting structure known as the FinTech Council, which advisory committee members will also attend and which will be chaired by the Executive Officer in charge of the Incubation Project Team newly set up in July 2015. Using this meeting structure, Mizuho will not only explore new collaborations with companies, it will also work on providing advanced services by utilizing experts' outside knowledge. Specifically, rather than limiting itself to "finance," "asset management and administration" and "payments," which are the business domains of conventional finance business, Mizuho will also deepen its expertise from technological perspectives such as "Big Data," "Artificial Intelligence," and "UI and AX" with the goal of picking up the pace of further innovation.

Mizuho is constantly striving to provide attractive services that respond to the varied needs of its customers. Going forward, it will engage even more proactively in "generating new finance business" through initiatives such as "gathering information on new technological trends and start–ups inside and outside Japan," as well as "making judgements that utilize external expertise, and promptly introducing and coordinating new systems."