Investment firm Oasis to sponsor board director training courses through The Board Director Training Institute of Japan for all qualified women who enroll in March.
March 8, 2022, TOKYO – In honor of International Women’s Day, Oasis Management Company Ltd. (“Oasis”) and the Board Director Training Institute of Japan (“BDTI”) have announced a new month-long initiative to sponsor board director training courses for women.
Throughout the month of March 2022, Oasis will pay all costs for qualified women who enroll to take any of BDTI’s director training courses as described below. These Japanese and English-language training programs have been designed by leading experts in Japan to prepare candidates to serve as directors or executive officers in Japan.
The goal of the initiative is to equip highly qualified women leaders with the skills and training needed to succeed as board directors, and to proactively address the imbalance in board gender diversity in Japan by expanding the pipeline of board-ready women director candidates.
“Improving gender diversity on boards in Japan by adding qualified female directors is something we are focused on and believe will improve governance and competitiveness at Japanese companies,” Seth Fischer, the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of Oasis said. “We strongly encourage all women who are interested to take advantage of this opportunity to access BDTI’s excellent director education programs.”
“Capable, trained female directors bring significant benefits to Japanese boards and companies. We applaud Oasis’s leadership,” Nicholas Benes, BDTI Representative Director, said.
For further information, please contact BDTI at info@bdti.or.jp or 81-3-6432-2337. [Please see below.]
Programs Covered by the Initiative
Governance ‘Juku’ （「ガバナンス塾」, Japanese)
This one-day intensive program prepares participants with the basic knowledge necessary that all directors and executive officers should have. The course is taught by leading experts, and includes sections on corporate governance theory and practice, corporate law, finance, securities law, and case studies.
Advanced Outside Director Training （「社外取塾」, Japanese)
This full-day course is based on extensive pre-reading materials that have distilled wisdom and detailed advice collected from a diverse group of women, men, and foreigners who have experience serving on multiple boards in Japan. The course covers practical topics such as governance and committee practices, strategic and strategic planning by boards, diversity, ESG, techniques for contributing and monitoring, D&O insurance, the interview and contracting process, as well as many other topics. The interactive program is delivered by two lecturers who can speak from their extensive real-life board experience. (Pre-requisite: Boot Camp, Governance Juku, or equivalent knowledge.)
E-learning Modules (Japanese)
BDTI offers low-cost e-learning courses on Company Law, Securities Law, Corporate Governance Basics, and Corporate Governance Practice. All four modules come as part of the “package” for the Governance ‘Juku’, so that participants can gain core knowledge in advance of the course, and afterwards.
English-language “Director Boot Camp”
This one-day intensive program teaches participants key legal and corporate governance knowledge they need to responsibly serve on boards of Japanese companies, both public and private. The course consists of short lectures interspersed with time for interactive discussion and Q&A about real-life situations that occur on boards, and how to handle them. BDTI also packages its e-learning modules with this course, for Japanese speakers.
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About Oasis
Oasis Management Company Ltd. manages private investment funds focused on opportunities in a wide array of asset classes across countries and sectors. Oasis was founded in 2002 by Seth H. Fischer, who leads the firm as its Chief Investment Officer. More information about Oasis is available at https://oasiscm.com . Oasis has adopted the Japan FSA’s “Principles of Responsible Institutional Investors” (a/k/a Japan Stewardship Code) and in line with those principles, Oasis monitors and engages with our investee companies. Oasis is a member of the 30% Club Japan and Hong Kong Chapter Investor Groups and a founding member of the Hong Kong Board Diversity Investor Initiative.
About The Board Director Training Institute of Japan
The Board Director Training Institute (BDTI) is a “public interest” nonprofit in Japan dedicated to training about directorship, corporate governance, and related management techniques. It is certified by the Japanese government to conduct these activities as a regulated nonprofit, and also to provide data and database services related to corporate disclosure. Nicholas Benes, the CEO of BDTI, is the person who proposed the concept of a governance code to the Japanese government in 2013, including its principle that specifically mentions gender diversity. Download a summary of BDTI’s training programs here, and see a menu of its data services here.
Media Contact
For all inquiries, please contact:
Taylor Hall media@oasiscm.com
Download the Press Release here.
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Information for Prospective Applicants
Thank you for your interest in the “Women’s Director Training Scholarship” Initiative sponsored by Oasis Management Company Ltd., which covers the costs of BDTI training programs for which qualified women register during March of 2022. This email outlines the procedures for applying to obtain support pursuant to the Initiative.
Programs Covered by the Initiative
At present, the following courses are available (have spaces available). BDTI may schedule additional courses depending on demand from the general public, and applications based on this Initiative, and the availability of lecturers.
- Governance ‘Juku’ （「ガバナンス塾」, Japanese)
Currently scheduled course dates: June 6 (Mon.), July 21 (Thurs.)
(possibly also July 7or 8 depending on demand)
- Advanced Outside Director Training （「社外取塾」, Japanese)
Currently scheduled course dates: May 23 (Mon.), August 1 (Mon.) - English language “Director Boot Camp”
Currently scheduled course date: April 18 (Mon.) - E-learning Suite (Japanese)
(The # of “spaces available”, and the date is not an issue)
Notes:
- Courses may change from an in-person basis to an online basis, and vice versa, based on conditions related to the ongoing pandemic.
- The deadline for submission of applications related to the Initiative is March 31, 2022, but applications for a particular course will be closed when each course reaches its maximum capacity. Please send us your summary CV as soon as possible, because scholarship applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Note that the 「社外取塾」 has a prerequisite that you have first taken the 「ガバナンス塾」 , or already have an equivalent level of knowledge. Only one course per person is allowed for this scholarship. (BDTI’s e-learning suite of four “modules” will be considered a single “course” for this purpose. Oasis’ standards for “qualification” in this case will be lower.)
Application procedures:
- If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, kindly please: (a) provide your up-to-date summary CV information (in either English or Japanese); and (b) tell us which course, on which date, you would like to attend, by sending an email to: info@bdti.or.jp . We will forward that information to Oasis for their consideration of whether they believe you are a qualified applicant. (At this point, kindly please do not register on BDTI’s website to take the selected course/e-learning.)
- Oasis will endeavor to respond within a week, by asking BDTI to send you an email. If Oasis approves your application, please proceed to the relevant registration page below and select the course in which you have expressed interest. Registration pages:
(a) Courses other than Boot Camp: https://bdti.or.jp/event-registration/
(b) English “Director Boot Camp”: https://bdti.or.jp/en/event-registration/
※ Please be sure to input “Oasis Scholarship” in the “Question” field of the Registration page. After registration, you will receive an automatic e-mail message from BDTI regarding payment. You can ignore this, because Oasis will sponsor all fees for one single course or order or our e-Learning suite (four modules) which it has approved. Therefore, no payment is required to that extent. Applicants are requested to make their best efforts to attend courses that they signed up for and to inform BDTI as soon as possible and at least three weeks in advance if they will be unable to attend.
3. If Oasis decides you are not qualified for this scholarship, BDTI’s office may still contact you via e-mail with respect to
upcoming programs and news in the future.
If you have any questions about the Initiative or BDTI’s program, please contact BDTI at: https://bdti.or.jp/about/contact-us/ , or info@bdti.or.jp , or 03-6432-2337.