Expect Japanese companies to champion a strong defense again at annual shareholder meetings this year. As meeting season gets underway—in Japan, a majority of companies hold their meetings in June, usually within a few days of each other—defensive measures seem to be the hot topic for the second year in a row. Shirou Terashita, chief […]
Nagano Yuriko
Posted inFrom the Archive
Kansayaku Try To Find Post-JSOX Role
Now that Japan has finally introduced the guidelines for its own version of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, auditors foresee a host of new challenges for Japanese corporations. One challenge: what do to with the uniquely Japanese position of the corporate auditor. The kansayaku, as he is known, acts as an independent watchdog for a company, prowling […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Japanese Look To Implement ‘J-SOX’ Rules
After two years of wrangling, Japan is finally ready to begin imposing its own tough set of rules about internal controls over financial reporting, modeled after Sarbanes-Oxley in the United States. The Financial Services Authority gave final approval to its rules on Feb. 15, an English translation is pending, and the government expects Corporate Japan […]
Posted inFrom the Archive
Q&A With The Author Of Japan’s SOX Rules
For two years, Shinji Hatta has had two important missions. First, he had to lead a panel charged with creating a Japanese model of internal controls based on Sarbanes-Oxley. His second, equally important goal: Above all else, don’t recreate Sarbanes-Oxley. After much work, Hatta’s committee and the Japan Financial Services Agency are poised to move […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
U.S. Board Governance Falls Flat In Japan
Corporate Japan’s fledging movement to adopt an oversight system of a company’s board and committees—much like the type seen at many U.S. corporations—appears to be losing steam, partly thanks to the country’s new Corporation Law—which actually is intended to bolster governance at Japanese businesses. Many large Japanese companies have a kansayaku, or corporate auditor, who […]
Posted inBoards & Shareholders
In Japan, Shareholders Finding Their Voice
Katsumi Shimizu has been somewhat sleep-deprived in the last few months—because of Japan’s annual shareholder meetings. He is on a mission to make them actually count for something. Shimizu Shimizu is chief of corporate governance operations at Japan’s Pension Fund Association, which manages 11 trillion yen ($95.5 billion) and represents Japan’s corporate pension funds. This […]
