Yoshihiro Hara specializes in the areas of corporate legal affairs, securities, M&A, IPOs and start-ups. Utilizing his two-year stock exchange secondment experience, he focuses on matters in specialized fields, such as the Companies Act, Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and Listing Rules (including capital increases through third-party allocation, corporate governance, assisting shareholders’ meetings, and disclosures), M&A, and group and corporate reorganization (including advice on structural planning, due diligence, and drafting of contracts and related documents), and IPOs support (including capital policy, such as investment contracts, class shares, stock options, and legal support for listing examinations). Mr. Hara works to meet the diversified needs of his corporate clients, consisting mainly of listed companies and companies preparing for listing. In addition, Mr. Hara has served as a Bar Examination Examiner in charge of the Commercial Code for three years by appointment of the Ministry of Justice.

Work Highlights

• M&A, group and corporate reorganization, and capital and business tie-ups (of listed and unlisted companies of all different sizes and industry types)
• Equity finance (i.e., capital increase through third-party allocation, issuance of stock options), tender offers and ‘going private’ transactions of listed companies
• Improvement of corporate governance of listed companies (including compliance with the Corporate Governance Code)
• Third-party investigation regarding a corporate scandal of a listed company and dealing with related parties and agencies when scandal occurs
• Issuance of class shares, investment contracts and shareholders’ agreements of companies preparing for listing (which have been becoming complicated in recent years)
• Advice to companies preparing for listing on legal issues pointed out by securities firms or stock exchange at the listing examination

Education & Professional Career

Jan 2010 – Present	Kitahama Partners, Partner
Oct 2007 – Sep 2009	Seconded to Listing Group of Japan Exchange Regulation (formerly Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd.)
Oct 2000	Graduated from the Legal Training and Research institute of the Supreme Court of Japan; Admitted to practice in Japan; Joined Kitahama Partners
Mar 1999	Kyoto University (LL.B.)

Other Activities

2015 – 2018

Ministry of Justice, National Bar Examination Examiner (Commercial Code)

Memberships

Japan Corporate Governance Network; Study Group on Corporate Law Practice (Osaka Bar Association), etc.