Sentiment of would-be listed companies and newly listed companies in Japan

A corporate credit research company Teikoku Databank, Ltd.（TDB）conducted a research project towards both 6,725 would-be listed companies and 467 already-listed companies since 2005 to figure out possible IPO schedules of the the would-be listed companies and reasons or concerns of IPOs of the newly listed companies. TDB got respondents consisting of 984 would-be listed companies and 195 newly listed companies on February 2008.

 
Teikoku Databank, Ltd.

TDB Watching (in Japanese)

The following key findings teach what IPO in Japan is all about,

･43.6 percent of the respondents out of 984 would-be listed companies answered that they plans to be listed under their schedules. This is the first time the drop in percent has happened since the last four years.
･Only 9.5 percent of the respondents answered that the would-be listed companies want to be listed in stock exchanges in 2008 or 2009, dropping by 6.1 % from the last year research.
・391 respondents （39.7％） would select TSE Mothers as the most favorable stock exchange, followed by JASDAQ with 347 respondents (35.3％) and with 173 respondents (17.6％).
・Most of the respondents answered that they aims to be listed with a reason to increase name recognition and creditworthiness. It occurred 756 respondents of the would-be listed companies (76.8％) as well as 176 respondents of the newly listed companies (90.3％).
・Both respondents of the would-be listed companies and the newly listed companies agreed that it is the most challenging hurdle to establish an internal audit system and function the system. It occurred 639 respondents of would-be listed companies (64.9％) as well as 157 respondents of the newly listed companies (80.5％).
・Around 70 percent of the respondents considered that Japanese-version Sarbanes-Oxley Act (J-SOX) affects their IPO schedules to establish a viable internal audit system. 　

J-SOX is an unofficial term which refers to requirements for all of listed companies in stock exchanges similar to Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 302 and Section 404 in the US. The J-SOX requirements are incorporated in the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law Act which was newly promulgated on June 14th, 2006 and became effective in April 1st, 2008.