A frustrated shareholder of Nomura Holdings suggested that the company, embroiled in an insider trading inquiry, should show its shame by changing its name to Vegetable Holdings.  Beyond amusing, it is an indication of the frustration coming out of many Japanese stockholders.  In a recent survery of 1,000 institutional investors and their plans for shareholder meetings this year, a record 14.5 percent said they intended to vote against the appointment of directors and auditors chosen by the company.

 

Additionally, Dai-ichi Lide Insurance, Japan’s third-largest life insurer said in April that it was tightening guidelines on exercising voting rights, and would start pushing back against companies that insisted on introducing poison pills or holding back dividends despite ample cash holdings.

 

We have written about the fundamental shift taking place among Japan’s decades-long business practices.  While this will be a very slow change (as cultural ones usually are), if investors continue to become more active and vocal in Japan, the transition could come more quickly.

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