Corporate Governance

Most people have the impression that shareholder activism is very un-Japanese. Many think it just can't work with the culture, despite massive inefficiences which activists could correct and profit from. While the government generally talks up reform, just back in April The Children's Investment (TCI, A British firm) was prevented from increasing its stake in J-Power, which dealt a blow to activist hopes.

Nevertheless, a recent Economist article points out that actually Japanese laws are more shareholder friendly than US or British ones.

Corporate law is actually more shareholder-friendly in Japan than in America or Britain. In theory, Japanese shareholders can vote directly on dividends and executive pay. They can even oust the entire board without cause.

And more recently, due to the crisis collapsing stock prices and forcing companies to cut dividends, japanese retail investors have begun teaming up with foreign institutional investors to change up their companies, and have been increasingly determined to have a say in how companies are run.