Oasis Announces “Women’s Director Training Scholarship” Initiative for International Women’s Day in Cooperation with BDTI of Japan

In honor of International Women’s Day, Oasis Management Company Ltd. (“Oasis”) and the Board Director Training Institute of Japan (“BDTI”) have announced a new month-long initiative to sponsor board director training courses for women.

Throughout the month of March 2022, Oasis will pay all costs for qualified women who enroll to take any of BDTI’s director training courses as described below. These Japanese and English-language training programs have been designed by leading experts in Japan to prepare candidates to serve as directors or executive officers in Japan.

The goal of the initiative is to equip highly qualified women leaders with the skills and training needed to succeed as board directors, and to proactively address the imbalance in board gender diversity in Japan by expanding the pipeline of board-ready women director candidates.

“Improving gender diversity on boards in Japan by adding qualified female directors is something we are focused on and believe will improve governance and competitiveness at Japanese companies,” said Seth Fischer, the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Oasis. “We strongly encourage all women who are interested to take advantage of this opportunity to access BDTI’s excellent director education programs.”

“Capable, trained female directors bring significant benefits to Japanese boards and companies. We applaud Oasis’s leadership,” Nicholas Benes, BDTI Representative Director, said.

For further information and to apply for the Oasis scholarship, please contact BDTI at [email protected] or 81-3-6432-2337.

Programs Covered by the Initiative

Governance “Juku” （「ガバナンス塾」, Japanese)

This one-day intensive program prepares participants with the basic knowledge necessary that all directors and executive officers should have. The course is taught by leading experts, and includes sections on corporate governance theory and practice, corporate law, finance, securities law, and case studies.

Advanced Outside Director Training （「社外取塾」, Japanese)

This full-day course is based on extensive pre-reading materials that have distilled wisdom and detailed advice collected from a diverse group of women, men, and foreigners who have experience serving on multiple boards in Japan. The course covers practical topics such as governance and committee practices, strategic planning by boards, diversity, ESG, techniques for contributing and monitoring, D&O insurance, the interview and contracting process, as well as many other topics. The interactive program is delivered by two lecturers who can speak from their extensive real-life board experience. (Pre-requisite: Boot Camp, Governance Juku, or equivalent knowledge.)

E-learning Modules (Japanese)

BDTI offers low-cost e-learning courses on Company Law, Securities Law, Corporate Governance Basics, and Corporate Governance Practice. All four modules come as part of the “package” for the Governance “Juku”, so that participants can gain core knowledge in advance of the course, and afterwards.

English-language “Director Boot Camp”

This one-day intensive program teaches participants key legal and corporate governance knowledge they need to responsibly serve on boards of Japanese companies, both public and private. The course consists of short lectures interspersed with time for interactive discussion and Q&A about real-life situations that occur on boards, and how to handle them. BDTI also packages its e-learning modules with this course, for Japanese speakers.

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About Oasis

Oasis Management Company Ltd. (“Oasis”) manages private investment funds focused on opportunities in a wide array of asset classes across countries and sectors. Oasis was founded in 2002 by Seth H. Fischer, who leads the firm as its Chief Investment Officer. More information about Oasis is available at https://oasiscm.com . Oasis has adopted the Japan FSA’s “Principles of Responsible Institutional Investors” (a/k/a Japan Stewardship Code) and in line with those principles, Oasis monitors and engages with our investee companies. Oasis is a member of the 30% Club Japan and Hong Kong Chapter Investor Groups and a founding member of the Hong Kong Board Diversity Investor Initiative.

About The Board Director Training Institute of Japan

The Board Director Training Institute (BDTI) is a "public interest" nonprofit in Japan dedicated to training about directorship, corporate governance, and related management techniques. It is certified by the Japanese government to conduct these activities as a regulated nonprofit, and also to provide data and database services related to corporate disclosure. Nicholas Benes, the CEO of BDTI, is the person who proposed the concept of a governance code to the Japanese government in 2013, including its principle that specifically mentions gender diversity.   Download  a summary of BDTI’s training programs here, and see a menu of its data services here.  

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