Gerhard Fasol: Corporate Governance Reforms in Japan

Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ): March 12, 2018

While many Japanese corporations are still admired around the world, too many have for years suffered sluggish growth and low profitability. A string of corporate scandals and failures have shocked the pubic and corroded confidence in Japanese business.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has spearheaded reforms. A corporate governance code has been introduced to improve supervision of management and increase the number of independent outside directors. Change is happening faster than many expected and the reforms are generally regarded as successful. Yet, much still needs to be done to bring more diversity into Japanese boardrooms.

Gerhard Fasol is one of a tiny number of foreigners in the boardrooms of listed Japanese corporations. A physicist and entrepreneur, he has been in Tokyo for quarter of a century. For four years he has been Board Director, and since last year additionally a member of the Supervisory and Audit Committee of the Japanese cybersecurity group GMO Cloud KK, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

With years of experience of mergers and acquisitions and cross-border business development projects in Tokyo, Fasol is well placed to explain what’s happening inside Japan Inc. He will come to the FCCJ to discuss what we might expect from Japan’s corporate governance reforms.

https://www.fccj.or.jp/event/professional-luncheon-gerhard-fasol-ceo-eurotechnology-japan-kk