April 2025 Advisory Group for IOSWG of IFIAR (completion of 9 years’ service)　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has successfully completed the third term as a member of  the Advisory Group of the Investor and Other Stakeholder Working Group (IOSWG) of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFAR). Since he first participated in the panel discussions at the plenary meeting of the IFIAR held in April 2015 in Taipei, he had actively participated in, and contributed to the discussions as a member of AG of IOSWG at, the plenary meetings held in London (2016), Tokyo (2017), Ottawa (2018), Rhodes (2019), virtual meetings (2021, and 2022), and Osaka (2023), in addition to regular meetings via tele-conference held throughout the year until the end of the term in 2025 .    

April 2025 Selected as Best Lawyers 2026　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in Japan™ for the “Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law” and “Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice” sections (Recognized since 2010).

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “US rejection of Nippon Steel deal may pour cold water on future US investment from Japan” (September 10, 2024)　　

Quoted in an article of Nikkei (in Japanese), “Beneficial Shareholders Excluded from Tokyo Damages Lawsuits, Overseas Investors Rebuff Ruling” (April 29, 2024)　

Selected as Best Lawyers 2025　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been recognized as among best lawyers in the “Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law” section and “Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice” for 15th edition of Best Lawyers in Japan.

IFIAR (International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators)　　

As a member of the Advisory Group to the Investor and Other Stakeholder Working Group (IOSWG), Ken Kiyohara participated in the panel discussions on "Limited vs Reasonable Assurance" and “Audit Committees Supervision of Corporate Reporting and Audit” held as 2024 Plenary Meeting of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) (April 2024).

Quoted in an article of Bloomberg, “Bidding War Over Japan’s Roland DG Raises Governance Questions” (March 22, 2024)　

March 2024　Advocacy  Appointment to the Working Group　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been appointed as a member of the Working Group on Disclosure and Assurance of Sustainability-related Financial Information (of the Financial System Council) of Japanese FSA.

Selected as Best Lawyers 2024　　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been recognized as among best lawyers in the “Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law” section and “Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice” for 14th edition of Best Lawyers in Japan.

Advocacy Report by the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosure” of the Financial System Council on December 27, 2022, the Financial Services Agency of Japan posted on its website a Report by the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosures” of the Financial System Council, in furtherance of the Report by the Working Group, dated as of June 13, 2022, addressing remaining discussion points of streamlining “quarterly reporting” by Japanese companies and updates to sustainability reporting regime. Once an English version or summary of the Report is made available, we will post an update. Ken Kiyohara has continued to have participate in the discussions of these Reports as a member of the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure.　

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “Tokyo urged to call on companies to step up English disclosure of securities reports” (September 16, 2022), in connection with strategic importance of the IR and urgent need to address negative impact of inattentiveness by many Japanese companies to the significance of full disclosure in English.　

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “Tokyo Seeks more aggressive disclosure guidelines on strategic shareholdings following experts’ report” (September 7, 2022), in connection with proposed revisions to the disclosure rules, concerning strategic shareholdings and the impact.　

Report by the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosure” of the Financial System Council　

On June 13, 2022, the Financial Services Agency of Japan posted on its website a Report by the “Working Group on Corporate Disclosures” of the Financial System Council, addressing such subjects as sustainability reporting by Japanese companies, disclosure of corporate governance, and quarterly reporting. Summary of the report in English is available here.
This is the second time that Ken Kiyohara has participated in the discussions as a member of the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure. The previous report by the Working Group issued in June 2018 is here.

IFIAR (International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators)　　

As a member of the Advisory Group to the Investor and Other Stakeholder Working Group (IOSWG), Ken Kiyohara participated in the panel discussions on investors’ and other stakeholders’ expectations to auditors and audit regulators under the “new normal” (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world), held as a part of the virtual 2022 Plenary Meeting of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) (April 26 2022).
See here.

Selected as Best Lawyers 2023　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been recognized as among best lawyers in the “Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law” section and “Corporate Governance and Compliance Practice” for 13th edition of Best Lawyers in Japan. 

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “Toshiba urged to hold open and fair talks with PE firms, not to repeat las year’s mistake” (April 11, 2022)　　

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “Toshiba viewed unlikely to go ahead with break-up plan; fresh start needed” (March 24, 2022)　

IFIAR (International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators)　　

As a member of the Advisory Group to the Investor and Other Stakeholder Working Group (IOSWG), Ken Kiyohara participated in the panel discussions on investors’ expectation in the area of auditor responsibilities for addressing fraud risks, held as a part of the virtual 2021 Plenary Meeting of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) (April 21 2021).  See here.

Selected as Best Lawyers 2022　

Ken Kiyohara, our representative partner, has been recognized as among best lawyers in the “Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions Law” section for 12th edition of Best Lawyers in Japan. For more details, please refer to the Best Lawyers Website. 

Quoted in an article of Dealreporter, “LINE and Nichii Gakkan buyouts highlight loopholes in M&A guidelines and differences between Japanese and US court processes, lawyers say” (July 24, 2020)