외국인 투자자들, 아베노믹스의 진정성에 의문을 갖다

이코노미스트의 2019년 10월 26일자 기사입니다.

Japan’s new investment rules risk scaring off foreign investors

일본의 새로운 투자 법안이 외국인 투자자들을 쫓아내고 있다.

Analysts suspect activist investors may be their real target

애널리스트들은 행동주의 투자자들이 실제 타겟이라고 추정하고 있다.

 

“BUY MY ABENOMICS!”, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, pleaded to the New York Stock Exchange in 2013. As he lowered the drawbridge to foreign investors, that pitch seemed to work. Today overseas owners hold 30% of Japan’s TOPIX index of stocks and account for about 70% of the daily turnover on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). But new rules threaten to reverse these trends.

○ Drawbridge: 도개교(들어올릴 수 있는 다리)

○ Turnover: 매출액, 회전률, 이직률

A proposed change to the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, unveiled on October 8th, will lower the minimum stake foreigners can buy in many listed Japanese companies without prior government approval, from 10% to 1%. Other changes include requiring foreign directors to seek official permission before they sit on the boards of Japanese firms.

○ stake: 말뚝, 화형대, 짐받이 버팀목

The finance ministry says it wants to protect sensitive sectors such as energy and weapons manufacturing. But analysts warned that the rules could choke off investment. Akira Kiyota, the head of the TSE told the Financial Times they were “absolutely idiotic”. Under fire, the finance ministry clarified on October 18th that foreign “portfolio investors” (such as banks, insurance firms and asset managers) would not need to seek prior approval, as long as they could prove they had no intention “to influence management”. The tweaked legislation was approved by the cabinet and is expected to be passed in parliament by early December.

○ tweaked : 약간 잡아 비틀어 수정된, 미조정된

○ the cabinet: 정부 내각

But concerns linger. One is the law’s broad scope. In addition to nuclear power and aeronautics, its purview includes agriculture, transport, shipping, software and internet services. Nor is it clear what counts as infringement. Would a letter from a foreign investor to the board of a Japanese firm, say, be considered an attempt to influence management? The upshot is that investing becomes more convoluted and time-consuming. One analysis concludes that the new rules mean an eight-fold increase in applications to the government.

○ purview: 다루는 범위, 시계, 권한

○ convoluted: 대단히 복잡한, 난해한, 구불구불한

Officials say they are just playing catch-up. The European Union tightened its screening of inward investment in April. America has expanded its regime, and even prodded Japan to reduce Chinese access to sensitive technology. But a foreign banker in Tokyo says the real target is activist investors. “The wording in Japanese is very specific about targeting investors who want a say on boards.”

○ regime: 정권, 제도, 체제

○ prod: 쿡 찌르다, 재촉하다

Activists have long fought for Japanese companies to sell non-core assets and stop hoarding cash. In recent years they have clashed with some of the nation’s corporate giants. They have been leaning on Nissan to sack its managers and draw a line under the era of Carlos Ghosn, the carmaker’s former boss. Earlier in the year a New York investment fund tried to force Kyushu Railway, a regional transport firm, to boost stingy returns to shareholders.

○ hoarding: 건물이나 도로가의 광고판, 임시 비축 저장하기, 임시 울타리

○ sack: 파면하다, 약탈하다, 앗아가다; 봉지, 밀가루 등의 한 부대, 침낭

○ stingy: 인색한, 쏘는, 날카로운

Ironically, Mr Abe can take some credit for this flurry of activism. By badgering bosses to change crusty boardroom practices, he has emboldened investors. The number of big listed firms with two or more external directors, for instance, has tripled since a corporate-governance code was introduced in 2015.

○ flurry: 일진 광풍의 혼란, 부산한, 소나기, 눈보라, 허겁지겁의, 동요케하는, 당황하게하는

○ crusty: 신경질적인, 화를 잘내는, 껍질이 딱딱한

○ boardroom: 중역 회의실, 이사회실

○ embolden: 대담하게 만들다, 볼드체로 인쇄하다

○ badger : 조르다, 채근하다, 계속 묻다; 행상인; 오소리

But many foreign investors already seem to be questioning the sincerity of the government’s reforms. Last year they dumped ¥5trn ($48bn) of Japanese stocks. Overseas investors once bought Abenomics. Now they want to sell. ■

 

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/10/26/japans-new-investment-rules-risk-scaring-off-foreign-investors​

This article appeared in the Finance and economics section of the print edition under the headline "Capital control"