Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday that it will buy back up to 250 billion yen worth of its shares, some 75 million shares, for cancellation by the end of March.
It would be the largest scale buyback by a listed Japanese company. The decision was made at a board meeting the same day.
The leading automaker's move comes at a time when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to work on a series of measures to prop up the sagging stock market. Among them are plans to lift regulations on companies' stock buybacks.
Companies are currently only allowed to buy back shares for certain purposes, such as retirement. Lifting the restriction would require amending the Commercial Code and this will probably take some time.