In November 2019, Michal Katz embarked on an exciting challenge to leverage the resources of one of the world’s largest banks to significantly expand its platform in the world’s largest financial market. But just months after assuming the role as Head of Investment and Corporate Banking at Mizuho Americas, she was faced with an unprecedented confluence of health and economic crises on a global scale. American Banker spoke with Michal as its first guest in a new podcast series looking at the most pressing issues in banking through the experiences of its most prominent leaders.

Listen in as she joins host Gemma Postlethwaite, the CEO of American Banker's parent company Arizent, for a discussion on leadership in a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.

Discussing the current climate, Katz says she draws upon the lessons learned as an investment banker who navigated the 90s dot com bust, September 11th, and the 2008 financial crisis. She speaks about the critical role Mizuho is playing by stepping in and helping satisfy clients’ strong demand for capital, parlaying challenges into strengths, and the prospect that the universal nature of the pandemic could lead to new strides in gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and ESG in the workplace.

This article was reproduced for external distribution with the permission of American Banker.