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In order to provide an overview for busy in–house counsel and compliance professionals, we summarize below some of the most important international anti-corruption developments in the past month, with links to primary resources.
Thirty months or two and a half years have already passed since the Fukushima nuclear accident. How have TEPCO and the Japanese government been dealing with the aftermath of the accident? The international community which has watched them with serious concerns may have been stunned with their substandard information disclosure and communication skills. The overseas media has covered this issue with as much interest and concern as the conflict in Syria.
It has already been fourteen months since the NAIIC submitted its report to Diet as the first independent investigation commission in the constitutional history of Japan.
Raising awareness about the report to the national public and making it easy to understand was not a task assigned to the Commission. However, I’m pleased to announce that there are young people who have taken up the job.
9/5/2015-As part of continuing efforts to promote market confidence and business integrity, G20 Finance Ministers have endorsed a new set of G20/OECD corporate governance principles.
One wonders how many directors at the large subsdiaries of Japaneseholding companies are aware of their potential liability from this direction.
The Japanese government has announced its policy/strategy on cybersecurity, one of the most important emerging risk topics in foreign board rooms nowadays. The same level of concern has not quite made its way to Japanese board rooms. (Nine months ago when BDTI held a seminar on this subject, only about 25 people showed up, and most of them were from IT departments.)
An English version of the policy is available here:
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Corporate Governance Code Compliance So Far: A Survey of Director Training Policies
The status of director training as required pursuant to Principle 4-14 of the Corporate Governance Code,based on comply/explain disclosures
“ The Deloitte Global Center for Corporate Governance (“The Global Center”) is pleased to present the latest edition of its annual global director survey: Director 360°: Growth from all Directions. This survey, now in its third consecutive year of publication, provides a unique perspective on the concerns that boards of directors face around the world.
BDTI's August 27thEnglish Director Boot Camp was a great success, with active participation by a diverse group of Europeans, Americans, British, Japanese, and even a New Zealander! Everyone in the room benefited greatly from the perspectives and experienceof this excellent group.
Excerpt:Audit Committee under scrutiny
Toshiba was considered a reform pioneer, first appointing independent directors in 2001. But the company's five-person audit committee – of which two members were former Toshiba executives and two others lacked any business experience whatsover – was a classic study of Japan's corporate insider culture that can often create compliant committees under the thumb of management. …..While the accounting errors probably would have been hard for any audit committee to spot if managers wanted to keep them hidden, this committee composition could not possibly have helped, say Nicholas Benes, Representative Director of the Board Director Training Institute of Japan.
Excerpt: “….. It will be interesting to see what lessons are drawn from Toshiba's failure. Problems with Toshiba's seemingly well-considered hybrid approach to governance clearly illustrate the tension and difficult tradeoffs between insider and outsider perspectives.