The current issues of Japanese Corporate Governance Reform Takeshi Kadota
Kadota made a presentation about Japanese corporate governance reform at a US Investment Bank’s forum. The forum was consisted of Japanese equity fund managers from both overseasand Japan. The background of holding the tour for the Investment Bank is that there are yet many fund managers who are not persuaded of the effectiveness of Japanese Corporate Governance Code in terms of raising corporate value.
Recent Evolution of Corporate Governance in Japan Masatoshi Yasuda
While we have not updated the recent evolution of corporate governance in Japan on this blog since March in this year, there have been decent progresses since then. I would like to explain them to readers of the blog.
What is “Sodanyaku” ? Masatoshi Yasuda
Sodanyaku is a prevailing business practice in which ex-senior-executives such as CEO or President take a position with such a name and virtually influences decision makings by the incumbent management even after they stepped down from top executive positions. The most serious problem is that such a position makes it difficult for the incumbent management to change the strategy depending on the circumstances.
Responsibility of Independent Directors – Toshiba’s case Masatoshi Yasuda
The seven independent directors were involved in the resolution of the acquisition of S&W by WH on the Toshiba's board meeting on October, 2015. Fourteen months after the acquisition, Toshiba announced US$ 6.1 billion losses caused by the acquisition. I believe that each of the independent directors has a responsibility to account for what had been going on the whole WH related businesses which are fizzling out.
Toshiba’s undeniable tendency to cover-up Masatoshi Yasuda
Behind the colossal losses of Westinghouse (WH) that was disclosed on February 14 by Toshiba, we see Toshiba’s undeniable tendency to cover up their frauds.