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What Is a Major Shareholder?

A major shareholder is a shareholder who holds a large stake in a company's outstanding shares and can potentially exert some degree of influence over management.

Disclosure system

Under Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a shareholder who comes to hold more than 5% of a company's outstanding shares is required to file a "large shareholding report." A "change report" must also be filed when the holding ratio changes by 1 percentage point or more, and these filings are made public through the Financial Services Agency's EDINET system, among other channels.

What to keep in mind

Major shareholders come in various forms, including founding families, financial institutions, business partners, and investment funds, and their purposes for holding shares (pure investment, strategic cross-holding, involvement in management, and so on) also differ. A change in major shareholders or their holding ratio can be a signal relevant to management policy, but it does not necessarily determine the direction of the share price.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not recommend or solicit the purchase or sale of any specific investment method or security. Final investment decisions are your own responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find information about a company's major shareholders?
It can be found in the 'status of major shareholders' section of each company's securities report or earnings summary, which typically lists the top ten or so shareholders and their ownership percentages. In addition, any shareholder who acquires more than 5% of a company's shares outstanding is required to file a large shareholding report.
Does a change in major shareholders affect the share price?
A change in major shareholders can signal a shift in management policy or the company's approach to shareholder returns, and it can attract market attention. That said, how it is received varies depending on the background and scale of the change, so there is no uniform effect.

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