Season's greetings! This is both an update, and an appeal for your support.
We are pleased to report that in 2012, The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI) made substantial progress:
・We held eight seminars where distinguished speakers presented on important topics such Company Law amendment, risk management methods, shareholder engagement practices, securities law violations, misrepresentation, detection of accounting fraud, gender diversity on boards, succession planning. In all, more than 300 persons participated in our seminars.
・We provided our intensive group learning program, International Governance (国際ガバナンス塾) in both in Japanese and in English to 56 participants in total, in seven separate small-group sessions. Our next English boot camp will be held on 2/20, and our next 国際ガバナンス塾 will be held on 3/7/2013.
・Our newly-introduced English-language director training program was as well received as our Japanese program had been in the prior year.
・Our E-Learning product was purchased by 59 people or companies.
・We provided “order-made” training to several different Japanese companies, and plans are under way for more such programs.
・We translated the world-famous book, “New Corporate Governance” by Professor Martin Hilb into Japanese, the seventh language in which it has been published. Early next year, Professor Hilb will appear at several events we will arrange.
・At the same time, BDTI attracted hundreds of new donors and registered members from around the world.
Our next English Director Boot Camp program will be held on February 20, 2013 and our next Japanese director training course on March 7th.
I would like to take this opportunity to give our heartfelt thanks to the many persons and organizations that have helped – and are still helping – BDTI in this still difficult stage.
Thank you very much! We truly appreciate your kind support.
As many of you already know, BDTI is a “public interest organization”, which means that donations to it will be tax-deductible by taxpayers in Japan. Also, since we qualified for an extra-special “tax-credit” treatment this year, the tax benefit to most Japan-based donors is now about double that of a simple deduction from taxable income.
If you are a U.S. taxpayer or Hong Kong taxpayer, you can also make “directed gifts” to BDTI that will be deductible for U.S. or Hong Kong tax purposes, by donating using the services of Give2Asia at this link: http://give2asia.org/bdti. (In the case of Hong Kong, kindly please consult with us in advance.)
Please donate to BDTI!* –> http://bdti.or.jp/english/donate. Currently, we are supported by three volunteers, and while working almost full-time at this position I have not received any salary for three years – nor have any of our other directors, some of whom teach in our courses. We are passionate about improving corporate governance in Japan, and based on personal experience we are convinced that board training is the key to opening mindsets and helping Japanese companies maximize value, growth, and contribution to society.
Please help us out in any way you can…because improving corporate governance in Japan is not just about criticizing it. “Human capital” is the most important factor.
Also, by all means please pass on this request to several friends.
Thank you in advance for your help and support. We wish you the very best for 2013.
Best Regards,
Nicholas Benes
Representative Director
The Board Director Training Institute of Japan
* When you make your donation, kindly please submit the donation form to BDTI.
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.