The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has releasedmost of the results of its recent public comment process regarding its ownproposed measures to restore public confidence to the securities markets. Because the TSE had only proposed that it publish a handbook to be given to outside board members, many comments focused on the need for the TSE to promulgate rules requiring director training or at least the disclosure of company policy abou it.
Category: Investment
Japanese Shareholder Value: Aligning Human Capital and Financial Capital
Who is the Japanese shareholder? One image is the rapacious foreign financial investor who seeks to strip the fruits of decades of hard work and leaves a trail of corporate husks behind. While it is easy to anthropomorphize such a villain, the truth is more nuanced.
Nomura’s “Individual Investor Survey” Shows Big Change in Public Attitudes—> External Directors Are Needed
From Page 11 – 「 (8) Views on the appointment of external directors
For this month's spot question, we asked individual investors about their views on the appointment of external directors. On the issue of making the appointment of external directors mandatory, the highest proportion of respondents—32.4%—chose the answer appointing more than one clearly independent external director should be mandatory ….
“Toxic Assets: Nuclear Reactors in the 21st Century” (Report by Greenpeace/Banktrack)
Greenpeace and Banktrack have published a report entitled Toxic Assets: Nuclear Reactors in the 21st Century – Financing Reactors and the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. The report has important ESG-related implications. The quoted parts below are from the web site publication page, the first page, and the Executive Summary:
Nomura’s AGM Preview – “Shareholder Attitudes Toward Independence…of Particular Interest”
Opportunity for Japanese companies to restore confidence in their governance
Recording of Expert Panel: ” After Olympus, What Do Foreign Investors Want Most From Japanese Companies?”
Regarding the expert panel event that BDTI recentlyorganized – After Olympus, What Do Foreign Investors Want Most From Japanese Companies? onMay 28, 16:00 —> For those who missed it, the recording to this event is available for the same price of the event (personal use only).
Contact: info@bdti.or.jp Event description: bdti.or.jp/english/node/371
Mizuho FG: Shareholder Proposal Requiring Disclosure of Policy and Actions Taken (if Any) to Train Board Members
A shareholder has submitted a proposalto Mizuho Financial Group that would require it to discloseabout its policy(if it has any)and any actions taken to train its own board members.Mizuho's own translation follows:
Proposal 7: Partial amendment to the Articles of Incorporation (Concerning disclosure of policy and results of officer training)
At AGM Deutsche Bank Supervisory Board Chairman Deposed by Variety of Well-Known Institutions and Retail Investors
22.26% of shareholders of Deutsche Bank viewed the situation from the same perspective as Hermes and VIP ( counter-motions ) and denied the Deutsche Bank Supervisory Board discharge, as a payback for its disorganized leadership. Among the supporters were (alongside many family offices around the globe and many retail shareholders in Germany) primarily:
Brookings Event (Video) “The Modern Shareholder: How a Short-Term Focus is Harming U.S. Corporations”
（From the Brookings Institution's web site;to see the video, access the link below) – ” The individuals and organizations who own shares in corporations have changed radically over the past 50 years. Today the household sector holds few direct shares in corporate equities – and a significant majority of stocks are owned by institutional investors, including […]
Excellent Paper by Stephen Davis: “Mobilizing Ownership: An Agenda for Corporate Renewal”
Stephen Davis, Nonresident Senior Fellow regarding Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, and a much-acclaimed author, Professor, and commentator on governance issues, has written a brilliant analysisthat pinpionts what ailscorporate governance in this modern era we have been entering (without realizing it) for some decades now. The paper can be downloadede at the link below
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/06/01-shareholder-davis