Japan’s industry ministry plans to name Hitotsubashi University Prof. Kunio Ito to head a panel on a review of the governance and remuneration systems at government-affiliated Japan Investment Corp., Jiji Press learned on Monday.

The panel, under industry minister Hiroshige Seko, will launch discussions soon after being established as early as this week, sources said.

All nine JIC board members hailing from the private sector are set to resign on Friday, in protest against the ministry’s increased involvement in the investment fund.

The ministry hopes to tentatively pick new board members by the end of March 2019 based on a report from the panel, the sources said.

Ito, who is well versed in corporate governance-related issues, has served as head of an industry ministry task force of experts on reforming Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., whose tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant suffered a triple meltdown in March 2011.

JIC, which currently aims to maximize its profits by providing funds to investment firms at home and abroad, may shift its focus to investment in individual companies that are seen playing important roles in the government’s industry promotion strategy, according to the sources.

When JIC was established in September through the reorganization of Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, the ministry proposed paying up to ¥55 million in annual remuneration per board member, including compensation linked to short-term performances.

But the ministry withdrew the proposal in the face of a chorus of criticism from government officials that the pay level was too high.Speech