Press Conference by SUZUKI Shunichi, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Friday, April 15, 2022, 9:10 am to 9:18 am)

 

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

I would like to ask you about the points on a review of quarterly disclosures that were included in the documents you submitted at the April 12 meeting of the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization. These indicated a policy of abolishing statutory quarterly reports and integrating these into quarterly earnings reports (kessan tanshin) in the exchanges.  Prime Minister Kishida himself has made a review of quarterly disclosures a pillar of his “new form of capitalism”.  So, I would like to ask you again about the significance of abolishing quarterly reports and integrating them into quarterly earnings reports of the exchanges. How will this contribute to the “new form of capitalism”? Does this rectify short-termism or bias toward shareholder interests?

A.

As you have pointed out, we just announced at the meeting of the Council of New Form of Capitalism Realization on the 12th that we will be integrating quarterly disclosures into quarterly earnings reports in the exchanges. Given the overlap between the statutory quarterly reports and the quarterly earnings reports required under the exchanges’ rules, we would like to consolidate these, taking into account opinions from the perspective of cutting costs. In line with this, in the Financial System Council a more in-depth examination would be undertaken, which would lead to a report next month. Opinions remain divided – as can be seen in the contrary views that quarterly disclosures encourage companies to adopt short-termism and that confirming short-term progress is necessary for discerning long-term corporate trends – so we will continue giving these issues consideration.