Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 86
Japan
Company
law matters
General Meetings:
•
On 26 February 2020, METI issued a guideline for hybrid virtual general meetings.
•
Although the guideline did not originally target the Covid-19 pandemic, it is attracting
attention from companies seeking to accommodate social distancing for the peak
Have any measures
season for annual general meetings in the coming June.
been put in place
It is impossible under the Corporate Code to conduct a purely virtual general meeting.
to accommodate •
However, the following measures can be taken for social distancing:
social distancing
•
- encourage shareholders not to attend the general meeting but to vote in advance (by a
(such as remote
voting paper or online),
general meetings)?
– limit the number of attending shareholders, require pre-registration to attend, and
reject attendance by shareholders with symptoms of Covid-19, and
– hold a hybrid virtual general meeting (i.e., a real meeting with online streaming)
pursuant to the METI guideline in order to allow remote attendees to participate in
the meeting.
Board Meetings: The Corporate Code doesn’t require a company to hold a physical board
meeting; an online meeting and/or resolution in writing are commonly used
by Japanese companies.
Remote Working: The Japanese government has been encouraging remote
working in light of Covid-19 and it has rapidly developed across the country. There are
subsides for business operators who will introduce or have introduced a remote working
system, especially for mid- or small-size businesses.
86
Government measures in key jurisdictions
