Barclays today announced the appointment of Yoichi Takemura as Head of Macro Trading, Japan.

Mr Takemura will report functionally to Yun Zhang, Co-Head of FIC Trading, APAC and Global Head of MTN & Macro Structured Notes Trading, and locally to Kosuke Morihara, Barclays’ CEO & COO, Japan.

Mr. Takemura has joined the bank in Singapore and will relocate to Tokyo later this year.

In this role, Mr. Takemura will oversee the Macro Trading Division in Japan. He will also work closely with teams across Macro Distribution, Research, and Investment Banking to develop innovative solutions tailored to the evolving needs of clients with a strong focus on Yen Rates. Tomohiro Mikajiri will increase his focus on Securitised Products and Non-Yen Rates trading, collaborating alongside Mr. Takemura.

“Japan is essential to our regional and global Macro franchise,” said Yun Zhang. “It is a key component of our strategy across Global Markets and with Japan’s rate divergence and heighted investor interest, we are well positioned to meet the growing client need in this region.”

Kosuke Morihara added: “Strengthening our capabilities in Japan Macro Trading is critical to advancing our offering and we are confident that Mr. Takemura’s appointment will help us deliver the Barclays franchise to clients.”

Mr. Takemura brings nearly two decades of experience in trading Yen-Rates and FX products, having served as Head of Fixed Income Trading in Japan at JP Morgan where he spent 15 years, and several senior positions at Citigroup and Credit Suisse.