Japan PM to urge company boards to open up in governance push as resolve tested

By Ritsuko Ando TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to outline plans to improve corporate governance as part of an updated economic strategy next month, aiming to overturn Japan's reputation for neglecting shareholders and salvage his reform credentials. The draft plans, which face resistance from Japan's largest business lobby, would push companies to appoint more outside directors as part of a package aimed in part at winning back overseas investors who have turned skeptical of Abe's ability to push through politically sensitive reforms on labor and trade. Currently, Japanese firms are not required to have independent directors. \"There is a lot of interest in this, especially from outside Japan,\" said Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) member Masahiko Shibayama, who heads a group preparing such reforms, adding that he hoped the June announcement would deliver \"powerful pitches\" on corporate governance as well as reforms of Japan's public pension fund.