Tag - corporate-governance

 
 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group CEO Hironori Kamezawa (center) and other executives bow during a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2024
MUFG heads to take pay cut after information firewall breach
21 MUFG officials, including some retired executives, will give up part of their pay after the bank was penalized for the unauthorized sharing of client information.
Brokers such as Nomura are busy handling transactions for the offloading of cross-shareholdings among Japanese companies, which bring in hefty fees.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2024
Block trades herald $5 billion fee windfall for Japan’s brokers
Pressure to improve corporate governance is leading firms to whittle down an estimated ¥50 trillion ($320 billion) they hold in companies with which they do business.
Japan's tradition of offering investors gifts is nice. But with the stock market at record highs, such perks are no longer needed.
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2024
It’s time Japan's shareholders buy their own wine
The practice by Japanese companies of giving gifts once served as a good way to encourage trading novices to dabble in the stock market.
Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings, during an interview in Tokyo last week
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 16, 2024
Panasonic managers need ‘sense of crisis’ over low profitability, says CEO
The comments are unusually harsh in Japan, and especially at Panasonic, where the notion of lifetime employment was embraced for years.
When Microsoft took a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board in November, it triggered unease among antitrust watchdogs in the European Union, Britain and the United States over how much control it exerts over the artificial intelligence startup.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2024
Microsoft ditches OpenAI board observer seat to avert antitrust scrutiny
The move comes amid concerns among British and U.S. antitrust watchdogs over Microsoft's influence over OpenAI and the latter's independence.
The Tokyo District Court has ordered advertising agency Hakuhodo to pay ¥200 million in fines for violating the antimonopoly law in a bid-rigging case linked to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 11, 2024
Hakuhodo ordered to pay ¥200 million over Tokyo Games bid-rigging
The firm is the first to receive a court ruling over a high-profile series of cases linked to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Veolia Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in London.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 11, 2024
Nestle quietly shifted recycling goals as plastics problem grows
Nestle changing its plastics goal means 280,000 metric tons of additional nonrecyclable plastic waste a year, according to the latest available data for 2022.
Nintendo is among the big name companies in which Kyoto Financial Group has cross-held shares.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
Kyoto bank defies call to unwind holdings after $6-billion gain
Kyoto Financial Group has amassed unrealized profits of more than $6 billion on holdings in other firms.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
Boeing in talks with U.S. Defense Department on impact of guilty plea
The plea in relation to two fatal crashes involving its planes in 2018 and 2019 potentially threatens the company's ability to secure lucrative government contracts.
An MUFG Bank employee allegedly leaked insider information to relatives about a client company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
MUFG bank worker suspected of leaking undisclosed client info
The securities market watchdog suspects the employee of violating financial laws by giving relatives undisclosed information about a client company.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024
Boeing to plead guilty to fraud in U.S. probe of fatal 737 MAX crashes
Boeing will plead guilty to lying to the FAA about a software feature on the MAX, which saved money by reducing pilot training requirements.
Toyota Customizing & Development, a Toyota subsidiary, broke the subcontract payment law, the Fair Trade Commission said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024
Toyota unit violated subcontractor protection law: regulator
Yokohama-based Toyota Customizing & Development broke the law by having dozens of suppliers store metal die casts and other items without paying any storage fees.
Financial groups will sell Honda Motor shares worth ¥535 billion to unwind cross-shareholdings, according to a regulatory filing.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2024
Insurers and banks to sell Honda shares worth $3.3 billion, filing shows
The move offers a sign that the unwinding of cross-shareholdings is catching pace in Japan.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2024
Shareholder revolts in Japan put proxy advisory firms in the hot seat
Two proxy advisory firms are having a moment as thinking around corporate governance in Japan undergoes a gradual shift.
Shareholders enter a venue for an annual general meeting of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group held in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Japan marks record high number of individual shareholders in fiscal 2023
The increase reflected stock price rises and a decrease in investment units due to stock splits, which made it easier for individuals to buy shares.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value
Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
Mizuho Financial Group is seeking to develop its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024
Mizuho hires ex-OTPP executive Karen Frank as senior adviser for EMEA business
Her appointment will likely be announced in the coming days, sources said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Honda has already announced plans to buy back up to ¥300 billion of its shares during the current financial year, a move that could help absorb some of the impact from the sale.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024
Major Japanese insurers to offload $3.1 billion of Honda shares, sources say
The sale of shares of a high-profile company is the latest sign that the unwinding of cross-shareholding is gaining pace in Japan.
Elliott Investment Management's sizable stake in Sumitomo reflects a growing shareholder activism in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024
Activist investor campaigns hit record high, driven by Japan
The number of new activists campaigns totaled 147, up 7% from 138 in the same period in 2023 and 29% above the five-year average.
Toyota Customizing & Development, founded in April 2018 and 90.5% owned by Toyota, develops vehicles on behalf of the parent firm.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2024
Toyota unit violates subcontract law
The Fair Trade Commission will shortly recommend that TCD take steps to prevent a recurrence of similar misconduct, sources said.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.