Category: Investment

Mr. Nader said he saw his shareholder rights activity as a natural extension of his work. Right now, “it is very hard to find entry points” to influence corporate America, he said, because “deregulation is rampant” and access to the courts has declined as shareholder suits have been limited and the courts have increasingly endorsed the ability of corporations to push consumers into arbitration. Adding to that, “congressional oversight is weak,” he said, and “prosecution budgets are very low.”

​The (most recent)eighth edition of the KPMG Survey of Corporateresponsibility reporting.

http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/corporate-responsibility/Documents/kpmg-survey-of-corporate-responsibility-reporting-2013.pdf

Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) was launched in January 2013 with the future vision of becoming the most preferred exchange in the Asian region. However, Tokyo Market relatively loses its international competitiveness, as Hong Kong/Singapore's development, the rise of Asian countries, and accelerated financial system reform in China.

The market conditions looks sustaining it's strong economic performance thanks to the effect of Abenomics, but as Japanese financial and capital markets, there still remains many issues to be resolved.

Excerpt: Investors Are Generally Content With the System –

As for investors’ reaction, comments from investors conveyed to our association note mostly that e-GEM system is an easy way of voting. It wouldn’t be wrong to say, at least on the basis of comments we received, that “investors are content”.

On ISS' web site: Each year, the ISS Global Policy Board invites all financial market participants to provide feedback on proposed updates to ISS' benchmark proxy voting guidelines prior to releasing our final updates in November. In conjunction with the release of our 2014 policy updates on Nov. 21, we are opening a new consultation period on ISS' policy approaches to certain policies for consideration for longer term policy changes (beyond 2014).

This can be downloaded at the link at the bottom. Here is the TOC:
I Introduction ………………………….. 1
II Revising investment in view of the post-deflationary economy
1 Objectives of investment ……………………………………………………… 3
2 Investment targets and policies …………………………………………………… 3
(1) Revising portfolios that heavily invest in domestic bonds

Messod D. Beneish, Charles M.C. Lee, D. Craig Nichols August 15, 2011 Abstract: An earnings manipulation detection model based on forensic accounting principles (Beneish 1999) has substantial out-of-sample ability to predict crosssectional returns. We show that the model correctly identified, ahead of time, 12 of the 17 highest profile fraud cases in the period 1998-2002.

ByMessod D. Beneish, Charles M.C. Lee, D. Craig Nichols; January 31, 2012 Abstract: An accounting-based model has strong out-of-sample power not only to detectfraud, but also to predict cross-sectional returns.

Abstract; April 2011; revised, June 2012 –

Over the past ten years there has been much discussion about whether corporate governance in Japan has improved and, if so, whether this results in improved corporate performance. We investigate whether observed changes in Japanese firms’ cash holdings and payout policy are consistent with improved governance.

Nomura Securities published a report on the Japanese In-Out M&A trend, forcasting increase of it beyond industy and corporate size as one of core growth strategies. PMI (Post Merger Integration) becomes more and more important.