In 1999, he left Citibank to head the Ripplewood-backed effort to acquire the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. In 2000, he was appointed chairman and CEO of the newly acquired and renamed Shinsei Bank. In 2004 he was also appointed as a director of China Construction Bank. He resigned as CEO of Shinsei in 2005 and as chairman in 2006, but returned as chairman and CEO in 2008.