'Tis a Season of Shareholders Meetings - with lots of reduced and foregone dividends

As a majority of Japanese companies have year end in March, June is the peak season of shareholders meetings (called Annual General Meeting or AGM in Japan).

Hit by the recession started from the U.S. sub-prime meltdown, about one in every three Japanese companies announced either reduced or no dividends.

This is in contrast to the last season, when many companies increased dividends while foregoing pay increase for employees. Japan's media was critical of these companies for "giving in to overseas (investors) pressure".

Nissan's shareholders meeting yesterday started with the French CEO, Carlos Ghosn, apologizing to shareholders for the loss of dividends. While lower compared to the US standard, total bonus of 2.5 billion yen (approx. $25 million) to ten directors of Nissan is much higher than an average of listed Japanese companies.

Also, this year the new anti acquisition poison pill was 10% less than last year, with the decline of foreign ownership.