BARRON’s: ” Japan’s Corporate Governance Woes”

…BUT THIS VOTING SEASON has turned into a big disappointment. Despite ISS’ shareholder-rights campaign, the presidents of Japan’s top 200 companies received median voting support of 96.6%—a 0.5 percentage point rise from 2014. Even the president of Toshiba (6502.Japan), which lost a third of its market value from an accounting scandal and write-downs, got a 94% approval rating. Some 76% and 91% of investors voted against dividend hikes and share buybacks, respectively.

CHUBB リスクセミナー : 『今後期待される取締役の責任と役割』 (JACDと共催)

開催日時:2015年12月10日(木)14:00~19:00予定(カクテルパーティー含)

● 会 場:ホテル・ニューオータニ(東京・四ツ谷)
● 参加費:無料

                                                 ―プログラム―

14:00-14:10 ご挨拶
14:10-14:50(40分) 基調講演
『日本企業のコーポレート・ガバナンス』
 スピーカー: 斉藤 惇 KKR Japan Limited 会長

14:50-15:30(40分) セッション1
『世界から見た日本の資本市場』
スピーカー: Jamie Allen アジアコーポレート・ガバナンス協会 事務局長

“Nicholas Benes: ‘Governance a Big Deal’ ” (Interview in The Oriental Economist)

Nicholas Benes is Representative Director of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan, which trains directors as a government-certified “public interest” nonprofit. Since 2010, he has chaired the Growth Strategy Task Force of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

The Japanese government and the Tokyo Stock Exchange have taken a number of steps aimed at improving corporate governance on the assumption that this will not only improve returns for shareholders, but also improve corporate efficiency and growth prospects.

Grand Total of 15 Companies Submitted English Corporate Governance Reports to TSE in Past Year

Only 15  companies have submitted English language Corporate Governance Reports to the TSE in the past 12 months…even though the CG Code asks companies with many foreign investors to consider that.  We need significantly more than 15.   Boys be [more] ambitious!  But recently I was able to convince the TSE to at least make a list of the companies that DO have English reports, so that we can single them out for praise.  You can find the list on a downloadable Excel file on this page.