Category: Management

February 2013, ABSTRACT We estimate what percentage of firms engage in fraud and the economic cost of fraud. Our estimates are based on detected frauds, and frauds that we infer are started but are not caught.

From Skadden's recent Client Alert – see link below – On October 22, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued its PreliminaryCybersecurity Framework (the Preliminary Framework).1 The Preliminary Framework representsthe first full draft of the Cybersecurity Framework (the Framework) that President Obama orderedNIST to develop in his February 12, 2013, executive order addressing the regulation of criticalinfrastructure network security.2

Saturday, October 26, 2013 TOKYO (Nikkei)– Mizuho Bank plans to reprimand 54 current and former senior executives for failing to take responsibility for loans to borrowers associated with organized crime, The Nikkei learned Friday.

See below forMETI's call for evidence and information – With the secretariat operated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the “Competitiveness and Incentives for Sustainable Growth: Building Favorable Relationships between Companies and Investors” project (chaired by Dr.

METI has got several councils or study groups working on themes related to corporate governance, acounting, disclosure, shareholder engagement,and CSR Policy. Most of them are summarized (with materials) here:

http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/economy/corporate_accounting/

andhere:

http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/economy/corporate_accounting/corporate_governance_02.html

http://www.meti.go.jp/english/policy/economy/corporate_accounting/pdf/121211_03.pdf

Mizuho Bank has admitted that at least four of its executives, including two former deputy presidents, knew that it was lending money to underworld and other “antisocial” groups and that it neither stopped nor sought to hold management responsible.

Among the four, an unnamed former deputy president was aware of the illicit practice as far back as December 2010….

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/05/business/mob-linked-loans-dating-to-2010-only-learned-of-recently-at-top-mizuho-exec/#.UmUUPiuCi71

Excerpts from a summary of pointson Gerhard Fasol's blog, based on an evening of brainstorming by Mr. Yashiro at the University of Tokyo –

2. The Japanese-style board structure is not appropriate to ensure sound corporate governance.

In Japan, Board Members are almost always managing employees of the company, so the question arises who’s interests they represent on the Board. Do they represent the interests of the institution (the company), the employees or the interests of the shareholders.

Professors M. Todd Henderson andStephen M. Bainbridge have written a thought-provoking article in Bloomberg Businessweek, entitled: Rethinking Corporate Boards: Why Companies Need ‘Board Service Providers. Excerpts appear below:

「STANFORD, CA – July 31, 2013 – “It’s lonely at the top” appears to be truer than ever, according to a new study conducted by the Center for Leadership Development and Research at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance, and The Miles Group. Nearly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive coaching or leadership advice from outside consultants or coaches, and almost half of senior executives are not receiving any either, the survey reveals.

This one-dayintensive program teaches participants the key legal and corporate governance knowledge they need to responsibly serve on, report to, or analyze boards of Japanese companies, both public and private. The course consists of short lectures interspersed with ample time for interactive discussion and questions-and-answers about real-life situations that occur on boards, and how to handle them. The course is usually good fun for everybody, since we all learn from each others' experiences, as well as from BDTI. The program will cover topics such as: