On June 13, the Chazen Institute, the Center on Japanese Economy and Business and Columbia Law School’s Center for Japanese Legal Studies cosponsored a two-hour presentation and discussion of Japan’s planned new guidelines for hostile takeovers. Yasu Hatakeyama, managing director of Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, presented the guidelines on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) with commentary from George Sampas and Janet Geldzahler of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Professor Charles Calomiris of Columbia Business School and Professors Curtis Milhaupt and John Coffee Jr. of Columbia Law School provided additional insight on this current and changing topic.

The discussion and debate included the pros and cons of these new guidelines from practitioner, governmental and academic perspectives on what one speaker called the "Delawarization" of Japan referring to the Delaware standards that much of the guidelines are based on. A report on this event is forthcoming.