'Japan Looks To Keep Companies Honest About Cross-Shareholding Cuts; Tighter Disclosure Rules Aim To Keep Shares From Being Repurposed In Name Only' - Nikkei Asia
'Japan Looks To Keep Companies Honest About Cross-Shareholding Cuts; Tighter Disclosure Rules Aim To Keep Shares From Being Repurposed In Name Only' - Nikkei Asia
Under the current rules, only the issuer's name and the shares' value must be disclosed.TOKYO -- Japan will require listed companies to disclose more information if they reclassify strategically held shares as being owned for investment purposes, amid concerns that some businesses are concealing their actual intentions, Nikkei has learned.
根据日本《日本证券交易法》的规定，如果将某些具有战略意义的股份重新分类为投资目的的股份，上市公司将被要求披露更多信息，以防止一些企业隐瞒其实际意图。
This comes as institutional investors step up pressure on companies to unwind "strategic" shareholdings -- commonly used in Japan to maintain business relationships -- that do not contribute to growth. Around 2,600 publicly listed enterprises, or two-thirds of the total, cross-hold shares from at least one company.
在机构投资者加大对企业解除“战略”股权的压力之际，这一措施出台。在日本，这种“战略”股权是用来维持业务关系的，但并不对增长有所贡献。约有2,600家上市企业，占总数的三分之二，持有至少一家公司的交叉持股。
Companies that change the reason they own a particular stock from strategic purposes to investment will need to explain why in their annual reports, as well as state whether the issuer of the shares has consented to an eventual sale. This aims to ensure that they are not trying to pare cross-shareholdings on paper while actually maintaining them.
将持有某只股票的目的从战略目的更改为投资目的的公司，需要在其年度报告中解释原因，并说明股份的发行人是否同意最终出售。这旨在确保他们不是在纸上削减交叉持股，而实际上仍在持有。
Under the current rules, only the issuer's name and the shares' value must be disclosed.
根据现行规定，只需要披露股份的发行人名称和股份价值。
The changes will be included in the Financial Services Agency's annual strategic priorities report due out as early as this month, with the aim of implementing them starting with annual reports for the fiscal year ending March 2025.
这些变化将包含在金融服务机构的年度战略重点报告中，最早将于本月公布，旨在从截至2025年3月的财年开始实施。
Currently, companies must disclose their 60 largest cross-shareholdings as well as any that amount to more than 1% of their capital stock. Shares held for investment purposes have much lighter requirements, with companies needing to report such holdings only if the size of their stake in a given company changed that fiscal year.
目前，公司必须披露其60个最大的交叉持股，以及任何超过其股本总额1%的交叉持股。出于投资目的持有的股份有较轻的要求，只有在公司在该财年内对某个公司的持股数量发生变化时，才需要报告此类持股。
Amid the pressure to cut cross-shareholdings, the amount of shares being switched from the strategic category to investment has surged, nearly doubling to 637.9 billion yen ($4.37 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2024. Regional banks account for 70% or so of that total, with at least one reclassifying tens of billions of yen in stock at once.
在压力下削减交叉持股的情况下，从战略类别转向投资类别的股票金额急剧增加，截至2024年3月结束的财年达到6379亿日元（43.7亿美元），几乎翻了一番。地区银行占该总数的70%左右，其中至少有一家一次性将数百亿日元的股票重新分类。
Every year, the FSA examines annual reports to confirm their accuracy. Its fiscal 2023 survey cast doubt on the actual purpose of companies' shareholdings in multiple cases, such as companies reclassifying cross-shareholdings without the owner's consent for a sale, or ostensibly owning shares to trade but holding on to them for years without selling any.
每年，金融服务机构都会检查年度报告以确认其准确性。其2023财年的调查在多个案例中对公司持股目的的实际性提出了质疑，例如，公司在没有股权拥有者同意的情况下重新分类交叉持股，或者明明拥有股份用于交易，却多年不卖出。
The agency plans to expand this review from around 100 companies in fiscal 2023 to all listed enterprises in fiscal 2024.
该机构计划将此次审查从2023财年的约100家公司扩大到2024财年的所有上市企业。