Articles by Nao Sano

Top Japanese Firms Scrap Employment System That Held Women Back

Japan’s biggest financial firms are abolishing decades-old employment practices that kept women off the corporate ladder. Nippon Life Insurance Co., Japan’s largest insurer, and MUFG Bank Ltd., a unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, are among firms that in …

Japanese Insurer MS&AD Plans to Invest as Much as $5 Billion to Double US Profits

MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. plans to invest as much as about ¥700 billion ($5 billion) to expand in the North American market, to meet its goal of doubling operating profits in the region, according to its chief executive officer. …

Japan Competition Watchdog Probes Insurers Over Price Fixing

Japan’s competition watchdog has begun an investigation into whether the top four non-life insurers colluded to set premiums for their corporate clients, according to a person familiar with the matter, becoming the latest regulator to look into the issue. The …

Japan Casualty Insurers’ Shares Sink on Concerns Over Suspected Price Fixing

A price-fixing scandal at Japan’s biggest casualty insurers is escalating following a media report that the suspected collusion is likely to be wider than initially believed. Shares of Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. and Sompo Holdings …

Japanese Used-Car Exec to Step Down After Revelations of Fraudulent Insurance Claims

The president of Japanese used-car dealership Bigmotor Co. Ltd. said he will step down after revelations of fraudulent insurance claims by the company’s repair shops, a scandal that has also ensnared Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. “I deeply apologize to all …

Update: List of Insurers Exiting Climate Group Grows, Including Lloyd’s, Tokio Marine

The list of firms walking out of the Net Zero Insurance Alliance continued to grow this week, adding to an exodus as the industry struggles to navigate anti-ESG attacks led by the Republican Party. The latest round of defections includes …

Banker’s Heirs Sue Japanese Insurer Over Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’

Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting should be returned to the family of its former owner by Sompo Holdings Inc., the Japanese insurer that bought the famous artwork despite its tainted Nazi-era past, according to a lawsuit filed by the heirs. …

Toyota Eyes Future When People Don’t Buy Cars, Pushing Ride-Hailing Ties, Insurance

Toyota Motor Corp., Asia’s biggest carmaker, is preparing for a potential future where people don’t buy cars. That’s behind the hefty investments that the company has made in ride-hailing providers, most prominently the $1 billion that it poured into Southeast …