Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

HK Type 4 license through Ballingal Investment Advisors Ltd. ("BIA" or "BIAL")

BACKGROUND
I have 20+yrs experience in Asia doing alternative strategies (i.e. non-delta1 non long-only) in fixed income, equity derivatives, and activist/catalyst/event-driven and long-short equity strategies with most of that time spent managing money. 

4 years in fixed income macro, 8 years running internal hedge fund and 4yrs investment banking at Citi in Japan, 3 years running an Asia multi-strat portfolio at a hedge fund, 4+yrs as an independent special situations analyst.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

TSE & FSA Think "Prime" - The World Yawns

TSE Market Structure Review - Back To The Drawing Board?

TSE's Market Structure Review: Public Comments As Expected, But Miss The Mark

Quiddity Advisors

Quantitative Analysis

Japan Consumer discretionary / Quantitative Analysis

Japan's Financial Services Agency released its committee report on the 24th of December and met for 90 minutes on the 25th of December to confirm the report. Links to two FSA documents are here (the <a href="https://www.fsa.go.jp/singi/singi_kinyu/market-str/report/01/01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">final report</a> in Japanese and a one-page slide with the "<a href="https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/refer/councils/singie_kinyu/20191227/03.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Main Points</a>" in English).
The report is, unfortunately, largely meaningless.
You won't get much out of it other than the possibility of a change in float definition, a possible cutoff point, and suggested timing of various changes.
Media articles (<a href="https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2019122400845&amp;g=eco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jiji</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/articles/2019-12-24/Q30C27T0G1KY01" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://mainichi.jp/articles/20191226/ddm/008/020/090000c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mainichi</a> (registration), <a href="https://jp.reuters.com/article/japan-prime-idJPKBN1YS0L1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2019122401002578.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chunichi</a>) on the 25th through the 27th confirmed more information about the conclusions not explicit in the document except in the footnotes, but passed to them via contact through the press club.
After twelve months, a TSE white paper, a solicitation of public comment by the TSE, and 6 different meetings of the FSA-sponsored Expert Study Group on Capital Markets in Japan of the Financial System Council (Chaired by Professor Hideki KANDA,  Gakushuin University Law School), the results are, to say the least, disappointing. The results appear to basically be a watered down version of the least stringent possibility mooted after the first meeting of the TSE-sponsored council a year ago. And changes won't come for years.
If it comes out the way the paper and articles moot, for the vast majority of investors there will be nothing to do. For several hundred small companies who would not get much foreign ownership anyway, they would either have to tick more governance boxes, or, more likely, look to buy back stock. 
But it is worthwhile doing the analysis, so we do it. More below.

Japan's Financial Services Agency released its committee report on the 24th of December and met for 90 minutes on the 25th of December to confirm the report. Links to two FSA documents are here (the final report in Japanese and a one-page slide with the "Main Points" in English).
The report is, unfortunately, largely meaningless.
You won't get much out of it other than the possibility of a change in float definition, a possible cutoff point, and suggested timing of various changes.
Media articles (Jiji, Bloomberg, Mainichi (registration), Reuters, Chunichi) on the 25th through the 27th confirmed more information about the conclusions not explicit in the document except in the footnotes, but passed to them via contact through the press club.
After twelve months, a TSE white paper, a solicitation of public comment by the TSE, and 6 different meetings of the FSA-sponsored Expert Study Group on Capital Markets in Japan of the Financial System Council (Chaired by Professor Hideki KANDA,  Gakushuin University Law School), the results are, to say the least, disappointing. The results appear to basically be a watered down version of the least stringent possibility mooted after the first meeting of the TSE-sponsored council a year ago. And changes won't come for years.
If it comes out the way the paper and articles moot, for the vast majority of investors there will be nothing to do. For several hundred small companies who would not get much foreign ownership anyway, they would either have to tick more governance boxes, or, more likely, look to buy back stock. 
But it is worthwhile doing the analysis, so we do it. More below.

Much Ado About Nothing: The FSA's BIG Market Restructuring?