Tag - corporate-governance

 
 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The government adopted a bill to help prevent cases of human rights abuses and other malicious activities related to the use of artificial intelligence but without hindering businesses' willingness to develop the technology.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025
New bill lets government publicize names of firms who maliciously use AI
The bill doesn't include "excessive regulations" that could impede technological innovation, the science and technology policy minister said.
Fuji TV President Kenji Shimizu speaks to reporters in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2025
Longtime Fuji Media director Hieda resigns from advisory panel
The move follows a firestorm that engulfed Fuji Media and its core unit, Fuji Television Network, over the handling of a sex scandal involving former TV star Masahiro Nakai.
Itochu dropping its Seven & I Holdings buyout plan would place Alimentation Couche-Tard’s offer back in the limelight.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Itochu drops Seven & I buyout, putting Couche-Tard back in limelight
An individual with an understanding of the deal said Itochu and Seven & I lacked synergy to justify the deal.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida concludes a news conference at the company's headquarters in Yokohama in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025
Nissan management shake-up plans reported as sharks circle  
Nissan is considering a change in leadership following poor results and the failure of a proposed merger with Honda, according to a report citing unnamed sources.
Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of City Developments Ltd., attends a news conference in Singapore in 2019.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2025
Father-son feud plunges Singapore’s richest clan into crisis
At stake in the feud is control of a major slice of an $18 billion family empire spanning property development to hospitality and finance.
Japan has already seen 24 takeover bids so far in 2025. If that pace is sustained, they may exceed 100 this year for the first time ever.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 27, 2025
Stock investors in Japan hunt for takeover targets with new fund
Japan has already seen 24 takeover bids so far in 2025.
A 7-Eleven convenience store, operated by Seven & I Holdings, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2025
Seven & I buyout talks stall over management control
The founding Ito family and Itochu have yet to reach consensus on the composition of the board of the post-buyout entity, sources said.
An Apple store in Walnut Creek, California, on Monday. Apple Inc. Apple investors rejected a proposal to end the iPhone maker’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, but CEO Tim Cook some some adjustments may occur.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 26, 2025
Apple to keep DEI efforts, though some adjustments possible
The proposal to abolish DEI efforts came after competitors like Meta and Google have started winding down such programs.
Bic Camera is under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission for unreasonable reductions in payments to subcontractors.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2025
Japan's FTC to advise Bic Camera not to underpay subcontractors
The commission found that Bic Camera unreasonably cut payments by a total of about ¥500 million in violation of the subcontract law.
With mergers and acquisitions reaching a record of more than $230 billion last year in Japan, and activists exerting greater influence on corporate Japan, investors from Sparx Asset Management to UBP Investments and Sigmoid Capital are becoming warier of nonearnings factors that may boost shares.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2025
Activist boom in Japan is upending long-short stock strategies
Japan’s percentage of short-selling to total trades is at the lowest since July last year, in terms of the 60-day moving average.
The city government of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, used corporate donations to create a volunteer tour, during which participants help farmers harvest apples and enjoy sightseeing in the city.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2025
Corporate hometown donations gain traction in Japan
Some local governments have been found to provide de facto rewards to donor companies, violating the system's rules and raising concerns about improper practices.
Norinchukin Bank Chief Executive Officer Kazuto Oku
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Norinchukin CEO plans to resign after massive bond losses
Norinchukin reported wider losses this month as it boosted investments in riskier leveraged loans and sought additional capital.
Sapporo beer
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Activist fund criticizes Sapporo after ‘acquisition failures’
The Singapore-based investment fund censured the management over "impairment losses on all of its overseas alcoholic beverage acquisitions.”
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau found the tax nonpayment after asking information, such as a list of companies, from the tax authorities of Singapore based on the Japan-Singapore tax treaty and analyzing the collected data.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025
Tokyo tax bureau seizes ¥1.8 billion from Hong Kong game firm over unpaid tax
The company, which operated its Mafia City online game via a platform based in Singapore, failed to pay consumption tax associated with revenue from in-game spending.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida holds a news conference last week, rejecting Honda's proposal to make the company a subsidiary.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025
Nissan shares rally on report talks with Honda could be reopened
The Japanese auto giants said last week they had scrapped plans to join forces.
Tokio Marine Holdings and other large non-life insurers are facing pressure to sell cross-held shares to improve their governance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 17, 2025
Japan insurers sell $11 billion cross-held shares ahead of plans
The insurers are facing pressure to improve their governance after regulators fined them for coordinating adjustments in insurance fees in advance for companies.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki addresses a meeting of the Legislative Council held at the ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2025
Japan eyes measures to empower firms with details of de facto shareholders
Shareholder lists compiled by companies currently display only the names of trust banks and other nominal shareholders, making it difficult to identify de facto shareholders.
The entrance to Walt Disney studios in Burbank, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025
Disney softens diversity criteria used to determine manager pay
Disney is the latest company to soften its focus on diversity, equity and inclusion amid a growing backlash against such policies by mostly conservative groups.
Bain Capital had announced a plan to commence its tender offer for Fuji Soft shares by early February at ¥9,600 apiece
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 11, 2025
Bain may not launch tender offer for Fuji Soft
In a statement, Bain said that it is "carefully considering" its future policy, including "the option of withdrawing" its tender offer plan.
Fuji Media's headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025
Fuji Media shares rise to 17-year high on Rheos’ 5% stake
Rheos, which manages a popular fund called Hifumi, holds 5.12% of Fuji Media shares after building its stake from Jan. 20 to Thursday.

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.