(From the article) What if lawmakers never spoke to their constituents?
Oddly enough, that’s exactly how corporate America operates. Shareholders vote for directors, but the directors rarely, if ever, communicate with them.
Category: Governance
” The Uncertain Relationship Between Board Composition and Firm Performance”
(The original famous paper, byy Sanjai Bhagat and Bernard Black*)
METI’s “Guidelines on Outside Directors and Kansayaku”
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has produced these English translations of documents they createdto accelerate thinking in Japan about how to integrate and better utilize outside directors and kansayaku on boards. Overall, they reflect the shift towards a realization that more uniform and higher-level“best practices” are needed, in line with national policy to formulate a corporate governance code.
ACCJ Viewpoint: ” Further Implement Corporate Governance Reform in Japan to Spur Investment and Growth”
The ACCJ just released a detailed Viewpoint, urging the Government of Japan to do what it promised to do when it was elected, and more. The summary is below, and the report can be downloaded at the link below.
IMF Likes the Corporate Governance Reforms it Sees in Japan’s New Growth Strategy
Japan—2014 Article IV Consultation Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission
Tokyo, May 30, 2014 (see below) – Abenomics has been successful in planting the seeds for a more dynamic Japan.The near-term outlook remains favorable and the economy is expected to weather well the consumption tax increase.
The LDP’s “Japan Revitalization Vision” – Translation of Historic Sections Regarding Corporate Governance
The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI) has produced a translation of the table of contents, and the sections related to corporate governance, in the LDP’s “JapanRevitalization Vision”, which was published on May 23rd. As ofMonday, May 26th, the recommendations in this “Vision” became formal LDP policy when they were approved by senior Ministers Amari (METI), Aso (FSA), and Prime Minister Abe.
LDP Growth Strategy Committee Announces “Revival Vision”, With Historic Proposals Regarding Corporate Governance
The LDP has made public its finalized growth policy “vision.It contains a number of proactive and high-impactpolicies regarding corporate governance, by proposing things such as: a) creation of a comply-or-explain corporate governance code with FSA and TSE involvement (with the ambitious schedule of “in time for next year’s AGM season”); b) a TSE comply/explain requirement of two independent outside directors, c) the concept of accountability re directors’ qualifications and knowledge levels; d) a Company Law de facto requirement for one
CII Letter to Japanese Prime Minister and Key Diet-members in Support of Corporate Governance Reforms
The Council of Institutional Investors (CII) announced that they sent letters to Japanese Prime Minister Abe and key members of theJapanese diet, MPs Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Masahiko Shibayama,in order to express CII's support for corporate governance reforms underway in Japan under the leadership of theLDP.
The letters also said that CII applauds the proposal to draft Japan's first Corporate Governance Code, encouraging the LDP to make it a robust one.
CII'sletter to Japanese Prime Minister Abe
Video interview of BDTI’s Representative Director, Nicholas Benes
This interview was filmed at the Asian Business and Management Conference 2013, held in Osaka, Japan.
Please go to the top page to watch the video.
Reuters: “Japan Business Lobby Plans Corporate Governance Rules: Source
Thu, Apr 24 2014 By Noriyuki Hirata TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's most powerful business lobby, Keidanren, plans to introduce corporate governance rules that will require better disclosure, a person familiar with the matter said, but they will stop short of bolder reforms sought by many investors.