[Fully Booked] The Courage to Do the Right Thing: A Conversation with LIXIL CEO Kinya Seto

​Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Time: 11:00–13:00
Venue: Tokyo American Club, Manhattan III
Speaker: Kinya Seto, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO, LIXIL Group Corporation
Hosting Committees: Alternative Investment, Special Events
Member Fee: ¥5,000
Guest Fee: ¥8,400
Meal: Plated Lunch
Registration/Cancellation Deadline: Friday, August 16, 12:00 Noon

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​Event Overview:

LIXIL Group Corporation may represent the new face of companies in Japan as it benefits from increased active shareholder engagement. In 2019, shareholders have exercised their votes for positive corporate value enhancement.

Shockwaves went through LIXIL in October 2018 when it was announced that popular CEO Kinya Seto would resign. This shook the investment community and LIXIL’s share price collapsed on the news. A global leader in the water and housing products business—maker of several popular brands—was thrown into turmoil.

Seto, who took over as CEO in 2016, had been credited by investors in the company and its employees for implementing reforms that put LIXIL on a growth trajectory. He believed his “resignation” was not conducted appropriately and raised concerns about corporate governance. Backed by powerful investors in LIXIL, he mounted a campaign to persuade shareholders to replace the board and to reinstall him as CEO.

At the annual general meeting on June 25, 2019, LIXIL shareholders reappointed Seto as CEO and installed eight candidates backed by him, out of the 14 elected to the board.

At this event, Seto will explain his remarkable campaign—touted as a victory for modern corporate governance in Japan—and outline his vision for LIXIL.

Frank Packard, Chair
Christopher Wells, Deborah Hayden, Pieter Franken, Vice Chairs
ACCJ Alternative Investment Committee

​Timothy Connor, Lori Hewlett, Robert Melson, Jr., Co-chairs
ACCJ Special Events Committee

NOTE 1: This event is ON THE RECORD.

NOTE 2: If you cancel after the stated deadline, the full meeting fee will be charged to your account. All guests must be accompanied by an ACCJ member. Sorry, no substitutions or walk-ins.

NOTE 3: If you are driving to the Tokyo American Club, please inform the ACCJ of the make, model, color and plate of the vehicle, by the registration deadline, as arrangements must be made. A 2,200 yen parking fee will apply.

NOTE 4: 500 yen of each participant's attendance fee will be deposited into the Alternative Investment Committee Fund.