Eliminating cross shareholdings is seen by many as a yardstick for measuring corporate governance reform at Japanese companies. Japan’s industry body for non-life insurers told its members in September to cut their cross-shareholdings in the aftermath of a price-fixing scandal in 2023.
Tokyo: Japan’s three major casualty insurers plan to sell a total of about ¥1.37 trillion ($9.5 billion) of cross-held shares in the fiscal year started April in a push to reduce strategic holdings in line with government policy.
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. plans to sell plans to sell ¥600 billion of shares, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. aims to offload ¥573 billion and Sompo Holdings Inc. targets ¥200 billion, according company announcements on Tuesday.
Eliminating cross shareholdings is seen by many as a yardstick for measuring corporate governance reform at Japanese companies. Japan’s industry body for non-life insurers told its members in September to cut their cross-shareholdings in the aftermath of a price-fixing scandal in 2023.
Cross-shareholdings are widely used in Japan to cement business ties.
Bloomberg