Japan eyes legal reforms to support shareholder identity disclosure

Tokyo looks to help companies discover who owns shares listed under custodians

20250129N Tokyo Marunouchi

Companies are being called on to communicate with shareholders, but incomplete information can make that difficult. (Photo by Sae Kamae)

NAOYA TAKAHASHI and KATSUYA MIYAKAWA

TOKYO -- Japan is moving to conduct legal revisions to strengthen shareholder identity disclosure, aiming to make it easier for companies to identify shareholders who are not on the register but hold de facto voting rights.

The Legislative Council -- a panel of experts under the Ministry of Justice -- will consult on a revision to the Companies Act in February, aiming to hammer out details like punishments for violations before submitting a draft of a bill to parliament.

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.