TOKYO -- The Japanese government is seeking legal changes to allow corporate shareholder meetings to be held fully online, as the coronavirus pandemic has prompted many companies to mix limited online gatherings with actual physical ones.
Japan's Companies Act, which stipulates that corporations must publish a convocation notice with a specific "venue," currently does not recognize "online" as location. Shareholders meetings are thus not allowed to be held entirely in cyberspace, while a certain number of participants must gather physically for voting and other purposes. But business leaders have been calling for the lifting of such requirements.
