Two business lobbies on Friday asked a Liberal Democratic Party panel to remove a legal curb on companies buying back and holding in reserve their own shares.
The Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) also asked the panel, which is considering ways to bolster equity markets, to consider tax measures including tax breaks to encourage individual investors and a new corporate pension program.
"Making stocks easy to manage in view of corporate restructuring, and expanding private pension plans will be a key not only to stock prices but also to a sustainable economic recovery in Japan," Keidanren officials said.