Greg Keeley has left the chief operations officer role at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.‘s Americas division, according to an email sent to staff early Monday afternoon.
“Effective immediately, Masahiro Yoshimura will assume responsibility for the COO organization and related reporting lines on an interim basis,” wrote SMCB Americas CEO Hiro Otsuka. “Greg Keeley is no longer with the organization.”
“As always, we ask that employees remain focused on supporting our clients and business objectives,” Otsuka wrote.
No further detail was provided in the email. An SMBC spokesperson declined to comment.
Keeley joined SMBC in April 2025 after seven years at TD and nearly 22 at American Express, according to his LinkedIn page.
“[This is] a key role as we continue to evolve as a modern, digital, and data-driven bank,” Otsuka said at the time. “Greg’s track record and leadership experience will play an important role as we continue to innovate and scale our operations across the region.”
Keeley’s executive biography had been taken down from the SMBC website and replaced with a 404 error code as of Tuesday morning.
Yoshimura is deputy CEO of SMBC Americas. His company biography page already includes “acting chief operations officer.” Yoshimura joined SMBC’s predecessor, Sumitomo Bank, in 1995.
He left in 2005 for a role at Daiwa Securities SMBC Principal Investments, a joint venture between SMBC and Japanese multinational investment firm Daiwa Securities Group, according to SMBC’s website. He rejoined the firm in 2011.
The move comes as SMBC has made several moves this year to optimize its operations in the U.S. – amping up recruiting around Charlotte, North Carolina, amid a push to add 2,000 jobs in the area over the next six years and launch a second U.S. headquarters there.
SMBC Americas this year wound down its digital banking platform, Jenius, and sold Jenius’ $2.3 billion deposits to San Diego-based Axos Bank. It also sold eight Southern California branches, along with $2.5 billion in commercial and commercial real estate loans and $2.7 billion in deposits, to Los Angeles-based Bank of Hope.
