Event Detail

Do you serve as a President or director of a Japanese company, or do you support such a person? Or, might you serve as an outside director on a Japanese board in the future? If so, you should know key aspects of Japan's Company Law, which is now being amended for the third time in 10 years, which which sets forth your duties and liablities - including criminal liabilities and liabilities to third parties who are not shareholders. You should also have a good understanding of Japan's general corporate governance framework, which is different from that of the U.S. and many other countries. A little knowledge can go a long way to protect yourself and your company. This event will give you a taste of the type of things it would help you to know. Nicholas Benes is founder and head of The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), a non-profit incorporated association dedicated to improving corporate governance and related management processes in Japan. BDTI’s primary mission is to train directors, statutory auditors and managers regarding corporate governance and effective board practices. BDTI is a "public interest" organization certified by the Japanese government. http://bdti.or.jp/english/ http://bdti.or.jp/english/info

SPEAKER BACKGROUND

Nicholas Benes is President and founder of JTP Corporation, an independent financial consulting firm in Tokyo that advises Japanese and foreign clients on complex reorganizations, alliances and M&A transactions. Over the past ten years, Mr. Benes and his firm have advised clients such as Johnson Controls, Amazon.com, Cadence, Itochu, A&D, AIG, Clariant, Mercian, Access Technology, and Advantest on successful transactions in the Japanese market. Mr. Benes’ assignments have spanned a diverse range of industries. Prior to founding JTP Corporation, Mr. Benes was Senior Managing Director in charge of investment banking for The Kamakura Corporation from 1994 to 1997. While at Kamakura, he and his team advised on numerous transactions including the sale of two leading Japanese accounting software companies to Intuit. By sheer coincidence, the company formed by the subsequent merger of these two firms (Yayoi Kaikei) was sold for almost a Billion dollars by Livedoor Holdings in 2007 when (after the scandal) Mr. Benes was serving as an independent outside director on the latter’s board in order to stabilize its business and resolve the many securities lawsuits it suddenly faced. Mr. Benes has served as an “outside director” on a number of corporate boards in Japan.

He recently founded The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), a non-profit foundation (shadan hojin) dedicated to the improvement of corporate governance at all levels, from start-up ventures to large listed firms. BDTI will focus on training directors and statutory auditors in the fundamentals of corporate governance and practices for how "strategic boards" can create value. Its founders consist of opinion leaders and experts on corporate governance with distinguished academic, industry, and government backgrounds. He is fluent in English and Japanese. Mr. Benes currently holds the following positions; President, JTP Corporation Representative Director, The Board Director Training Institute of Japan Governor, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan