On September 28, ACGA sent a formal letter tothe Ministry of Justice and keymembers ofthe Legislative Advisory Council's Company Law Sub-Committee in Japan. The letter was made public and is available on BDTI's data libary athttp://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/l0ngs7zm.
Month: September 2010
Survey About Attitudes Towards Corporate Governance in Japan
BDTIhas conducted a survey on attitudes towards corporate governance in Japan. A summary of the findings is available at http://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/c1hal6ep
Among the most interesting results were:
What is the Value of Independent Directors? – of Statutory Auditors?
According to some academics, there is goodstatistical evidence of a correlation between the presence of parent companies and PE funds and superior firm performance, but the evidence is weak that the presence of independent directors improves firm performance.
New Comment re METI Proposal
BDTI hasreceived a new comment on METI'sproposed Joint Audit Committee Company. Please see below. (Admin.)
“Corporate Governance in Asia” Report by CLSA and ACGA
CLSA and the Asian Corporate Governance Association have published their 2010 version of CG Watch Asia. Japan's score moved up a to 57%, a level that however is still 23 percentage points below what ACGA considers to be the global best-practice score of 80%.The Japan section of the report is available on BDTI' data library. The full report can be purchased from ACGA.
Joint Audit Committee-Style Company – Proposal by METI
What is the general reaction to METI's proposal to amend the Company Law toenable formation ofa thirdtypeof company, a joint audit committee-style company? It isdescribedon pages 36-38 of this document: http://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/os68ejbz
NOTE: the summary translation file that was attached to the comment that was subsequently submitted in response (below) is available at: http://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/p5k7vzjg
Towards a Full Reform of Japan’s Governance Framework
(Reply to comment made yesterday.) Your idea* is a good one, but I believe that a much bolder reform of the corporategovernance framework is needed for Japan's markets.
The harsh reality is thatthe quality of corporate governance in Japan has lost much credibility and itslaws and rulesnow lag most other countries in Asia.
In response to the question on stare decisis
Unlike US courts, Japanese courts almost never cite, describe, distinguish, etc. other cases.
Call for Comments for Submission to Legal System Advisory Council
As noted in a separate entry below, the Legal System Advisory Council will soon discuss (if not largely decide) some ofthe most important issues affecting corporate governance in Japan. BDTIencourages parties with opinions on these topics to submit them to BDTIas soon as possible. –>
Legal System Advisory Council: Schedule for Company Law Deliberations
The Company Law Committee of the MOJ's Legal System Advisory Council has announced its schedule and agenda for meetings over the next few months. (http://bdti.mastertree.jp/f/ubqlzgph) Read more–>