Tag - corporate-governance

 
 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

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.
In a recently released report, a U.N. group has urged Japanese companies to draw up policies vowing to fulfill their responsibility in protecting human rights.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2024
U.N. voices concern over rights violations in Japan workplaces
While noting "important advancements" on the issue, a report expressed concerns about difficulties in addressing deeply embedded harmful gender and social norms.
Tsuyoshi Maruki, president of Strategic Capital, speaks online on Thursday after three of six candidates proposed by the firm for Daidoh's board positions secured a seat.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 28, 2024
Activist fund in Japan wins Daidoh board seats in rare victory
Daidoh's stock has more than tripled since activist fund Strategic Capital built a stake in the firm in November 2022.
Toyota has been looking to cash in on stakes in affiliates as it steps up development and production of battery-powered vehicles.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2024
Toyota and affiliates to offload some $1 billion in Aisin shares
Toyota Motor and two affiliates will divest at least 12.5% of supplier Aisin
Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura explains irregularities found at welfare service provider Megumi during a news conference in Nagoya on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2024
Japanese government punishes operator of group homes for overcharging
About 100 group homes for people with disabilities run by the Tokyo-based firm will be banned from having their service-provider designations renewed.
Shareholders at Toyota's annual general meeting, held in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on June 18
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024
Toyota chair's pay raised to $10 million despite safety probe
The total made Akio Toyoda the highest paid Japanese executive for a third straight year.
Shareholders queue to enter a venue for SoftBank Group's annual general meeting in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024
Activist investing booms in Japan amid corporate governance reforms
International hedge funds and home-grown investors have turned the country into the world’s second-largest market for activists.
Fast fashion e-commerce company Shein's logo outside its office in Guangzhou, China, on June 11
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2024
What is at stake for China-founded Shein as EU rule looms
Shein has faced more than 90 lawsuits alleging it plagiarized others’ designs or products.
A general shareholders meeting is held at Sompo Holdings in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024
Japan nonlife insurers apologize to shareholders over scandals
Leaders of three major Japanese nonlife insurers apologized at their respective general shareholders meetings over scandals rocking the industry.
LINE, the app at the center of a tug-of-war for control. Line was introduced in Japan in 2011 by Naver, the operator of South Korea’s leading search engine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2024
Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time
Leaders on both the Japanese and South Korean sides appear determined to prevent the quarrel over Line from escalating.
MUFG Bank and two joint ventures in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have been penalized for violating client confidentiality rules.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024
MUFG penalized by Japan’s financial regulator for client breach
The flagship bank and joint ventures allegedly inappropriately exchanged client information at least 26 times to win business, according to a market watchdog.
Richard Katz argues in his new book that the key to Japan emerging from decades of economic sluggishness depends on stimulating companies with high energy and dynamism, over the lumbering, older firms.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2024
Hope for Japan, if the elephants get out of the way
Protecting older companies, the jobs they have produced and the political and financial relationships they have nurtured, starves newer, more innovative businesses.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe holds a news briefing at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo on Oct. 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Honda CEO apologizes to shareholders for test fraud
Shareholders voted to approve a proposal to reappoint Toshihiro Mibe and other directors to Honda's board.

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?