Kazutaka Kuroda

Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (NSC) is a wholly-owned brokerage subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (TSE: 8604; NYSE: NMR). Headquartered in Tokyo, the firm was founded in 1925. NSC places a strong emphasis on research, both fundamental and quantitative. In addition to stock and bond underwriting, their activities include IPO and M&A advisory, wealth management, separately managed accounts, fund wrap services, prime brokerage and structured equity finance. Their clients include institutions, hedge funds, private banks and private equity funds as well as corporate clients and retail investors.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is a registered broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., ultimately owned by Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the US. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1987 and provides debt and equity services including underwriting, M&A advice, securities dealing and brokerage and trade execution. Their client base ranges from large global institutional investors to hedge funds at the cutting edge of innovation in the industry.

Citigroup Global Markets Japan, Inc. (CGM-JP) is a wholly-owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Citigroup Japan Holdings GK, ultimately held by Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) in the US. Previously known as Nikko Citigroup Ltd., the firm was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between US-based Citigroup and Nikko Securities, based in Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo, CGM-JP provides brokerage services to governmental institutions, financial institutions, multinational corporations and institutional investors. Their sales and trading, distribution and research capabilities span a broad range of asset classes, currencies, sectors and products including equities, commodities, credit, futures, foreign exchange (FX), emerging markets, G10 rates, municipals, prime finance and securitized markets.

Credit Suisse Securities Japan Ltd. (CSS Japan) is the Japanese securities brokerage subsidiary of Credit Suisse AG, which is owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN; NYSE: CS) in Switzerland. The firm was founded in 1985 as First Boston Securities Tokyo. It subsequently became CS First Boston Securities in 1989 and Credit Suisse First Boston in 1996. In 2006, they began operating as Credit Suisse Securities Japan Ltd. Headquartered in Tokyo, CSS Japan performs underwriting, research, sales and trading of government and corporate bonds, foreign exchange, securitized products and real estate-related assets for institutional clients, corporations and government bodies. In addition, the firm offers sales, trading, research, financing, prime brokerage and market-making in Japanese and international equity and equity-related securities, options, futures, risk management and hedging products.

BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. (BofA Securities Japan) is the wholly-owned Japanese brokerage subsidiary of Merrill Lynch International, Inc., which is ultimately owned by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Founded in 1998, the firm was formerly known as Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd. (MLJS) and changed their name to BofA Securities Co., Ltd. in line with grobal re-branding from BofA Merrill Lynch to BofA in 2020. They subsequently became BofA Securities Japan Co., Ltd. Headquartered in Tokyo, BofA Securities Japan provides stock and bond trading, capital markets, investment banking and other advisory services to corporate clients, financial institutions and government agencies.

Part of Barclays PLC, Barclays Securities Japan Ltd. is a brokerage company based in Tokyo, Japan. Barclays Securities Japan provides brokerage services. The Japanese company was founded in 1987. Kentaro Kiso has been the CEO of the company since 2014.

Part of Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley Japan Ltd. is a Japanese company that provides investment banking and institutional securities services. The company is based in Tokyo, Japan.

Part of Daiwa Securities Group, Inc., Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd. conducts economic research and provides financial and investment advisory services. The company is based in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese company was founded in 2008. Yoriyuki Kusaki has been the CEO of the company since 2016.

Jefferies (Japan) Ltd. (JJ) is the Tokyo branch and subsidiary of US-based Jefferies Asia Holdings II Pte Ltd., ultimately held by Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE: LUK) in the US. Established in 1996, the firm focuses on Asian markets and provides brokerage and investment banking services to institutional and corporate clients located primarily in Asia and the Middle East. Their activities include sales and trading of Japanese equity, equity-linked and structured products, the distribution of equity research and execution services in cooperation with US and European offices and the provision of electronic connectivity throughout Asia. They issue equity shares through GDRs and ADRs, and are a leading issuer of convertible bonds, high-yield in particular. In-house research covers a variety of industries including the maritime sector, infrastructure, logistics, outsourcing, technology and IT. In addition to Japan, JJ focuses on countries such as China and India, providing a range of services to Chinese and Indian companies, including access to international equity and debt capital markets, securities underwriting, US public and private offerings and cross-border M&A advisory. They also cooperate with private equity and venture capital firms focused on the Chinese and Indian markets.

JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. Ltd. (JPMS-J) is the brokerage subsidiary of JPMorgan International Finance Ltd., itself a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) in the US. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, JPMS-J provides investment banking services, intermediary of Global Custody service and other asset servicing business provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. and its group companies.

Deutsche Securities, Inc. (DSI) is the Japanese brokerage subsidiary of Deutsche Bank Holdings (Luxembourg) SARL, itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) in Germany. The firm was established in 1986 as Deutsche Bank Capital Markets (Asia) Ltd. and became Deutsche Securities Inc. in 2006. Located in Tokyo, DSI is the investment banking platform for the Deutsche Bank group in Japan. The firm provides services including research, sales and trading of bonds and equities, capital raising and M&A advisory for corporate and institutional clients. They have particular expertise in sectors such as automotive, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, energy, financials, media, telecommunications, technology, transportation and trading companies. The M&A division is in a leadership position in Japan, and structures deals including overseas investments by manufacturers, asset sales for restructuring corporations, and domestic mergers and acquisitions. DSI's activities include products and services related to fixed-income, equities and commodities as well as real estate investments and financing. Activities related to foreign exchange and money market are primarily operated by the Tokyo branch of Deutsche Bank.

Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co., Ltd. operates a holding company with interests in the financial industry. It specializes in trading, investment banking, investment management, prime brokerage, research, institutional consulting, wealth management, private wealth management. The company was founded on April 16, 1984 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (Broker) (Mizuho Securities-Broker) is the brokerage division of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd., ultimately owned by Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) in Japan. The firm was originally founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Tokyo with a network of offices throughout Japan as well as overseas representation through Mizuho entities or strategic partners (in Great Britain, Switzerland, the US, Hong Kong, Mainland China, South Korea, Singapore and India). Mizuho Securities-Broker provides enhanced equity and fixed income execution services for their clients who includes private individuals in Japan, domestic and foreign institutions, non-financial companies, financial institutions and public corporations in the securities and investment banking fields.

SMBC Nikko Securities, Inc. is the securities brokerage subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8316) in Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo, the firm was founded in 2009 and provides stockbroking services to Japanese individuals and corporate clients.

Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. (Broker) (Daiwa Broker) is the brokerage division of Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., which is ultimately held by Daiwa Securities Group, Inc. (TYO: 8601). The firm is headquartered in Tokyo and was founded in 2012. Daiwa Broker provides brokerage services to their clients.

Ubie, Inc. operates medical support tool that allows a doctor to concentrate only on examination by the patient entering a medical questionnaire. The company was founded by Yoshinori Abe and Kota Kubo on May 1, 2017 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

ACCEL Stars, Inc. is a company based in Japan, specifically in Kurume. The Japanese company's vision is to elucidate sleep and create new medical care. The company offers a product service that uses the world's highest precision sleep detection technology called "algorithm name\: accel". This technology leads to sleep grasp, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, and the company is currently developing it. The company was founded in 2020 by Hiroki Ueda, and Tadashi Miyahara has been the CEO since 2021.