Capital Market Competitiveness: Burnishing Tokyo’s Image in the Face of Global, Asian Challengers

left to right: Robert Feldman, Heizo Takenaka, Kotaro Tamura.

As global capital markets scramble to attract new listings from foreign firms, Tokyo and New York are increasingly seen as less desirable places to market one’s shares, by virtue of cost, strict reporting regulations and bureaucratic hurdles. London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and emerging economy markets are reaping the benefits of this perception. As in New York, the debate in Tokyo centers on reevaluating capital markets regulation. Concrete steps including diversification of products tradable at exchanges and revamping of the firewall regulations among banking, securities, and insurance businesses, have been promoted in Japan to attract foreign listings. Through an analysis of foreign market practices, twelve high-level panelists from Japan, the U.S., Asia and the U.K., drawn from government, industry, and academia discuss Tokyo’s relative global competitiveness and examine strategies for making Tokyo’s capital markets more accessible to foreign companies. Co-organized by Japan Society, the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School and The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Economics, Hal S. Scott, the Nomura Professor and Director of the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School, will conduct the discussion through a “Socratic dialogue.”

Panelists:
Japan:
Robert Feldman, Director of Economic Research Department & Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co., Ltd.
Hideki Ito, Director for Financial Markets Operations, Planning and Coordination Division, Financial Services Agency
Takatoshi Ito, Professor at Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo
Atsushi Saito, President & CEO, Tokyo Stock Exchange Group, Inc.
Heizo Takenaka, Professor & Director, Global Security Research Institute, Keio University
Kotaro Tamura, Member of the House of Councilors; Chairman, House of Councilors Committee on Land Transport ; former Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office of Economic and Fiscal Policy

United States:
David Shuler, Senior Vice President, Business Development (Asia), NYSE Euronext, Inc.
Paul Speltz, President, Kissinger Associates, Inc.

Hong Kong:
Anthony Neoh, Former Chairman, Securities and Futures Commission Hong Kong; Barrister-at-Law, Anthony Neoh, SC

Singapore:
Frank Wong, Vice Chairman, DBS Group Holdings & DBS Bank, Singapore (retired August 2008)

United Kingdom:
Alastair Clark, former Executive Director of Financial Stability, Bank of England

Moderator:
Hal Scott, Nomura Professor of International Financial Systems, Harvard Law School

AGENDA:
2:15 – 2:45 pm Registration
2:45 – 5 pm Panel discussion
5 – 5:30 pm Audience Q&A

REGISTRATION:
To register for this event, please visit the following website:
http://www.academyhills.com/school/detail/cmc.html

For information only, please contact Corporate Program at [email protected] or 212-715-1208.

LOCATION:
Academyhills
Mori Building Co., Ltd.
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 49 Floor
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-6149
JAPAN