With the ban on so-called triangular mergers scheduled to be lifted in May, debate in Japan -- which has occasionally involved interested parties in the United States and Europe -- has focused on determining the conditions under which such cross-border takeovers should be allowed.
In triangular mergers, the Japanese acquisition vehicle of a foreign firm can take over another Japanese company by swapping the shares of its parent firm for all or a sizable portion of the target's shares.
However, I must point out that some of the arguments made by the U.S. and European business organizations are based on misunderstandings of the differences between their legal systems and Japan's.