New York, New York, May 18, 2015 – Today Carl Icahn released the attached open letter to Tim Cook, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc.
Dear Tim:
Category: Investment
Ethical Markets: “Green Transition Scoreboard® Celebrates 2015 Earth Day With $6.22 trillion Blowing Past Mid-Mark to 2020 Goal”
Earth Day 2015 marks $6.22 trillion invested in theglobal green transition since 2007.This meets our Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS) goal of $10 
WEALTH MANAGER:”Matthews Asia Rolls out Japan Fund to UK investors”
Matthews Asia is seeking to profit from profound change in Japan with the launch of a new fund.
The Matthews Japan fund, run by Kenichi Amaki, has the flexibility to invest across the whole market cap spectrum in Japan, particularly companies that can benefit from improvements in corporate governance and the domestic growth outlook.
The strategy will replicate that of the existing Matthews Japan fund, which has been available in the US since 1998.
Activist Fund Oasis Eyes Kyocera, Canon After Nintendo Win
Oasis Management, the Hong Kong-based activist fund that called for the changes unveiled last month by Nintendo Co., is turning its attention to Kyocera Corp. and Canon Inc.
Deloitte: “The GPIF and its Reform”
As perpective regarding, postponement (abandonment?) of GPIF governance reform, we recall thatthis January Delloitte wrote in its memo The GPIF and its Reform:
“ The Japanese FSA will soon publish a code for a higher level of corporate governance for Japanese companies. These two codes (CG + stewardship) are seen as essential for achieving sustainable growth of the Japanese equity markets. The GPIF must, in this context, have better governance. “
Wall Street Journal: ” Japan Puts Off Overhaul of $1.1 Trillion Public Pension Fund”
WSJ: Japan Puts Off Overhaul of $1.1 Trillion Public Pension Fund -Move Signals Prime Minister in No Hurry to Change Governance at GPIF
http://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-puts-off-public-pension-fund-overhaul-1424756051
BDTI's Representative Director Nicholas Benes was quoted in the article as follows:
Paper: “Legal Background to the Low Profitability of Japanese Enterprises”, by Nobuyuki Kinoshita
Abstract: Japanese enterprises have shown low profitability for quite some time now. This paper presents several hypotheses regarding the influence of Japan’s legal systems on this phenomenon. The laws discussed in this paper cover not only corporate law but also ‘enterprise law’ as a whole, including bankruptcy law, capital markets law and civil litigation law.
A Japan ERISA?
Japan has no comparable law to ERISA, the comprehensive law regulating corporate pension funds, requiring funding and many other features, and enforced by the Department of Labor. Here's an excellent summary of ERISA in a report made to the U.S.Congress:
Summary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
“Fixing Japan’s Information Leaks”
Article by Gavin Blair in The Trade News – excerptfrom the article –
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) sent out a letter recently to all listed companies warning that they would be put on a 'watch-list' if information was not released at the proper time and through the appropriate channels.
Question of the Day: Why Does Japan Only Have a Teency-Weency Corporate Bond Market?
How would you respond to this question?
Bruce Aronson at Hitotsubashi-wrote apaper (see below) in 2011which providedsome of the answers to this question, including the fact that bank loan interest ratesare very cheap in Japan.