Japan: shareholder meetings

The majority of listed companies in Japan hold their annual general meeting in the last week of June. This concentration of meetings was described by the Asian Corporate Governance Association, in its 2008 white paper (here, pdf), as being a "major obstruction to the exercise of shareholder rights and good corporate governance, and is unnecessary".

The annual general meeting period remains concentrated although the proportion of meetings held on the same day has fallen in recent years. Yesterday was nevertheless a popular day: 40% of companies listed on First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange held their AGM (see here).