Japan will ask all of some 4,000 listed companies in the country to consider submitting and disclosing their annual securities reports before ordinary meetings of their shareholders, financial services minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.
Many Japanese companies disclose their reports, which contain important information on their business operations and financial results, either on the day of the ordinary shareholders' meeting or the day after.
The government will make the request in response to criticism from overseas investors that they do not have enough access to information necessary to exercise their voting rights at such meetings.
Listed companies are legally required to submit their annual securities reports to the Financial Services Agency within three months from the end of their business year.
At Friday's news conference, Kato called on companies to consider submitting and disclosing their annual securities reports between one or a few days before their general shareholders' meetings.
"The most desirable decision is for companies' securities reports to be accessible to the public at least three weeks before the general meetings," he said.
The FSA and others set up a liaison group at the end of last year to discuss the issue.
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