Japan panel to draft report on corporate disclosures

TOKYO: A Japanese government panel tasked with reviewing the need for quarterly corporate disclosures aims to draw up a summary report this spring, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday January 28 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to relax quarterly disclosure requirements for companies as part of his pledge to forge a new capitalism but implementation is expected to take years, complicating the outlook for one of his key promises.

In 2008, firms were made mandatory quarterly disclosures in order to bring Japan's rules more in line with those of the United States, boosting the appeal of the Tokyo market for overseas investors.

The report summary would lay out points that might need to be debated in more detail, setting the stage for a deeper discussion on the disclosure requirements at the panel, which is overseen by the Financial Services Agency FSA. The revision of quarterly disclosures should be carefully discussed, Suzuki told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Under the new capitalism plan of the Kishida government, we think it's important for firms to focus on long-term growth rather than short-term profitability and to manage the benefits of not only shareholders but of various stakeholders, such as workers.

The government's deadline to submit legislation to parliament to change the disclosure requirements is in 2023, and the earliest date for new rules can be applied is 2024, government officials told Reuters last October.