The Japanese version of the Big Bang announced in November 1996 was a major plan to drastically reform the financial and capital markets in Japan through significant revisions to laws such as the Securities and Exchange Law. The Japanese Big Bang was planned because of mounting worries about the...

A revision to Japan's Securities and Exchange Act in 2004 introduced a system of civil fines for breaking laws related to falsifying disclosure documents and unfair trading practices. Cases in which penalties were actually assessed began increasing in 2006

Bull-Dog Sauce, a Japan-listed company, initiated the world's first full-fledged takeover defense to block efforts by Steel Partners, a US-based investment fund, to gain management control of the company. Japan's Supreme Court issued a ruling that approved of the takeover defense. This paper...

The Financial Services Agency levied a huge fine on Nikko Cordial Group after uncovering accounting irregularities at the firm, one of Japan's leading securities houses. In response, the Tokyo Stock Exchange considered whether to delist the firm, ultimately deciding not to. This paper takes the...

Japan's first proprietary trading system (PTS) for listed stocks was established by kabu.com Securities, a leading online securities trading firm. This system, the opening of which was made possible by revisions to the Securities Exchange Law in 2004, uses the auction method of price formation,...

Yoshiaki Murakami, founder of the Murakami Fund that became known for acquiring large shareholdings of listed companies and actively intervening in their management, was arrested and charged with insider trading. This paper goes over the events leading up to Murakami's indictment and analyzes...

Japan has a large shareholding reporting system that requires disclosure when ownership of stock in a company reaches 5% or higher. Out of consideration of the administrative costs of such disclosure for institutional investors, many countries allow for exceptions to this, either through...