Symposium: Shareholder Activism in Japan, the EU, the UK and the US

Delivering strategic legal thinking and blending academic rigor with real-world applicability

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

The system of corporate governance has gone through significant changes in major jurisdictions in the past decade. On the European continent and in Japan, the system of mutual shareholdings is now more or less gone. On the other hand, investment funds have become more active in participating in the management of listed companies, for example, demanding higher dividends, share buy-back, and even disposal of part of the business. To some extent, this has a positive effect on corporate governance by increasing corporate value in terms of higher share prices. At the same time, it may bring in ‘short-termism’ to corporate governance, affecting the long-term strategy of the companies.

Since the late 2010s, the operation of activist funds have become conspicuous in Japan. Japan is reputed to be a fertile ground for activist funds for various statutory reasons. Arguably also because the stock of many Japanese companies is considered undervalued. There have been cases where disputes between the activist funds, the target company, and the existing shareholders reached the court.

The goal of the present symposium is to look at the situation regarding activist funds in Japan in a comparative perspective. After addressing the current situation in Japan, the US system, where shareholder activism originated, is to be addressed. Although the Japanese legislature sought to assimilate the American corporate governance system in the early 2000s, now the UK system and the European continental (German and French) systems are attracting more interest in Japan. How these jurisdictions cope with shareholder activism and activist funds in comparison to Japan is the basic issue to be discussed at this symposium. Shareholder activism has its pros and cons. The goal of the symposium is to seek an optimal balance by looking at the experience in different jurisdictions.

PARTICIPANTS

This conference is designed for policy-makers, lawyers, and economic consultants involved in corporate governance in Japan, Europe and the US.

PROGRAMME

• 08:45 Registration and refreshments
• 09:20 Welcome
  Moritz Bälz, Professor Japanese Law and its Cultural Foundations,Goethe University Frankfurt
• 09:30 Session 1:
  Chair: Ruth Effinowicz, Head of Centre of Expertise on Japan, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
• Changing shareholding structure and corporate governance in Japan and Europe: demise of stable shareholding and the increasing presence of investment funds
  Speaker: Hiroshi Oda, Sir Ernest Satow Professor of Japanese Law, UCL
• Development of ‘institutional shareholders’ and activist funds in Japan
  Speaker: Sadakazu Osaki, Adjunct Professor, University of Tokyo and Senior Research Fellow, Nomura Research Institute
  
  Discussion
  
  
• 11:00 Refreshment break
• 11:30 Session 2:
• Chair: Moritz Bälz, Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt
  Beyond Anglo-Saxon Models: Japan’s Unique Approach to M&A and Its Impact on Shareholder Activism and Sustainability
  Speaker: Hidefusa Iida, Professor, University of Tokyo
• Shareholder Activism: Some recent cases from Japan
  Speakers: Ryo Okubo, Co-Head and Partner, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu NY LLP
  
  Discussion
  
  
• 13:00 Lunch break
• 14:00 Session 3
  Chair: Harald Baum, Professor, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
• The development of activist funds in the US
  Speaker: Nobuhisa Ishizuka, Executive Director of the Center for Japanese
  Legal Studies, Columbia Law School
• Reinventing Shareholder Activism:A Comparative Perspective on Europe and the US
  Speaker: Georg Ringe, Professor of Law and Finance, University of Hamburg
• Discussant: Tobias Tröger, Professor of Private Law, Trade, and Business Law,
  Jurisprudence, Goethe University Frankfurt
• 15:30 Refreshment break
• 16:00 Session 4:
  Chair: Hiroshi Oda, Sir Ernest Satow Chair of Japanese Law, UCL
• Shareholder activism in France: reform prospects
  Speaker: Mai Ishikawa, Associate Professor, Tohoku University
  Discussant: Edmond Schlumberger, Professeur de Droit privé -
  Université Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne
• Shareholder activism in the UK
  Speaker: Dionysia Katelouzou, Reader, Kings College London
  Discussant: Philip Gavin, Assistant Lecturer in Law, Technological University
  Dublin
• 17:30 Panel Discussion:
  Shareholder activism: Curse or blessing for corporate governance
• 18:15 Conference ends

REGISTRATION

This conference is free of charge to attend. Please register via our website at:
https://bit.ly/ucl-shareholder-activism-2025

CONTACT

If you have questions on any aspect of this programme please contact
Lisa Penfold
lisa.penfold@ucl.ac.uk

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• Symposium: Shareholder Activism in Japan, the EU, the UK and the US