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.
Japan moved up in the rankings to third place, behind Hong Kong at 65% and Singapore at 67%. ACGA characterized Japan as improving but lacks urgency, noting thatthe political and regulatory category showed the biggest improvement, with the TSE and FSA pushing ahead to achieve modest improvements in rules. However, ACGA also noted that: a) the score is still low for a developing economy; b) there is no consensus set of standards on board practices; c) there is a large amount of automatic voting; and d) independent directors are not yet mandatory, and e) the legal system is not developed as a tool for investors.
– BDTI Administrator
The Board Director Training Institute (BDTI) is a "public interest" nonprofit in Japan dedicated to training about directorship, corporate governance, and related management techniques. It is certified by the Japanese government to conduct these activities as a regulated nonprofit. Read a summary about BDTI here, and see a menu of its services for both corporations and investors here.