Ryo Kato

After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo, Mr. Kato worked at the Finance Department of Chuo-Aoyama Audit Corporation, where he was involved in auditing and M&A Due Diligence. He then joined the Securitization Products Department of Morgan Stanley Japan, where he was involved in securitization of monetary claims including mortgage loans and alliance business with regional banks.
Mr. Kato went on to serve as CFO at Four Travel Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Kakaku.com, Inc.), where he oversaw the IPO preparations, and engaged in cross-border M&A in the TMT Sector and FIG at the Investment Banking Division of Barclays Securities Japan Ltd. Since becoming independent, he has provided consulting services mainly for venture companies aiming for IPO, including fundraising, business plans and capital policy planning, equity story building, and business development, as well as M&A advisory services as an exit option.

He served as Director and CFO of Digital Plus, Inc. and Independent Director of United & Collective, Inc., both listed companies, before he became Auditor of bitFlyer Blockchain, Inc. in March 2021 (current position). Mr. Kato is serving as Auditing Committee Director of bitFlyer Inc. since March 2022 and as Auditing Committee Director of bitFlyer Holdings Inc. since March 2023.