We are pleased to share the May 2022 issue of Japan Corporate & Finance Insights. This newsletter is designed to keep you current on what we consider to be important recent legal developments involving Japanese corporate and finance matters.

＜TOPICS＞
Virtual Shareholders Meeting (By Mai Kasuga, Takahiro Fuchigami and Akira Taroda)
A virtual shareholders meeting is a shareholders meeting at which directors and shareholders of a company are permitted to participate or attend by electronic means such as the Internet. In this article, we provide an overview of a virtual shareholders meeting and the three types of virtual shareholders meetings permitted in Japan. We also note some of the major points to consider when holding virtual shareholders meetings.

Amendment to the Companies Act – Outside Directors (By Susumu Mizuta and Masato Tanaka)
This article mainly focuses on the requirements regarding directors, etc. that should be taken into consideration when establishing a Japanese company (Kabushiki Kaisha) as a means for a foreign company to expand into Japan, as well as on the obligation to appoint outside directors for certain companies as stipulated in the Amended Companies Act and the amended Corporate Governance Code. In addition, this article provides information on the entrustment of business execution to outside directors and disclosure regarding the obligation to appoint outside directors.