Tokyo Recruiter for Legal, Compliance, Risk & Internal Audit
I'm a Senior Recruiter at Robert Half in Tokyo, placing mid-career to C-suite professionals across control functions in financial services. My searches span investment banks, asset managers, insurance groups, fintech, and Japan-based regional banks.
Risk Management
CROs, Market Risk, Credit Risk, Operational Risk, and Enterprise Risk professionals for banks, securities firms, and asset managers operating in Japan.
Internal Audit & Financial Crime
Internal Audit Heads and Managers, AML, Financial Crime Compliance, and Sanctions specialists for Japan's banking, securities, and insurance sectors.
Compliance & Regulatory Affairs
CCOs, Compliance Managers, Regulatory Counsel, and AML/Financial Crime specialists for global and Japan-based financial institutions — bilingual and unilingual.
Merei Hatanaka
About myself and the Tokyo Recruitment Market
Discover expert legal, compliance, risk, and internal audit recruitment services in Tokyo. As a senior recruiter specializing in mid-career to executive-level placements, I connect leading financial institutions with bilingual (Japanese & English) professionals who strengthen the control functions at the heart of every well-run organization.
Tokyo's financial services market moves quickly, and the demand for skilled compliance, risk, and audit talent has never been higher. Regulatory expectations continue to rise across investment banks, asset managers, insurance groups, fintech firms, and Japan-based regional banks — and the professionals who navigate that complexity are in short supply. Finding them takes more than a database search. It takes a recruiter who understands the regulatory landscape, speaks the language of both candidates and hiring managers, and knows how to identify the people who don't surface on job boards.
That is the focus of my work. I partner with global and domestic firms to place CCOs, compliance managers, CROs, internal audit heads, financial crime specialists, and regulatory counsel — across the full spectrum from individual contributors to C-suite leadership. Every search is handled personally, confidentially, and with a real understanding of what makes a placement succeed for both sides: not just the right skills, but the right fit in culture, motivation, and long-term career direction.
For candidates, that means an advocate who takes the time to understand your goals and represents you honestly throughout the process. For employers, it means access to a carefully built network of bilingual control-function professionals who are often not actively looking — the passive talent that defines the best hires.
Whether you are a hiring manager building out a compliance or audit function, or a professional considering your next move in Tokyo's financial services sector, I would welcome a confidential conversation. To protect your privacy in line with APPI and GDPR standards, I do not collect CVs or personal data through this site — please connect with me directly on LinkedIn to begin the discussion.
Feel free to reach out directly on LinkedIn.
Contact
Based in Tokyo, Japan. Available for retained and contingency searches across financial services. I am always open to discussing market trends or connecting with professionals in the Compliance, Risk, Internal Audit, and Financial Crime space. To ensure full data privacy and compliance with APPI and GDPR standards, I do not collect CVs or personal data through this website. Please reach out to me directly on LinkedIn for a confidential discussion.