Governance concerns

Masaki Shizuka of the TSE expressed the concern that "investor confidence in information provided by the company may decline."^[38] Tsutomu Okubo, who is to chair a new working team to discuss reforms to the company act to strengthen corporate governance, questioned whether the corporate auditor system was functioning properly, and whether the company’s accountants were acting as a proper check on management. Toshio Oguchi, representative director of Governance for Owners in Tokyo, argued that the affair pointed to a dysfunctional board: "Even if they didn’t know about the tobashi, the fact that the board approved the payment cannot have been a correct decision.”^[68]

The acquisition price tag was justified using sales forecast for the three companies – Altis, Humalabo and News Chef – of ¥88.5 billion (US$1.2 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2013 – which CFO Asia said was "practically impossible to achieve". It further noted that the combined sales targets for the three companies for the fiscal year to March 2012 were subsequently reduced by 93 percent to a combined ¥6.5 billion (US$85.7 million).^[38] Despite the suspicions of wrongdoing, Olympus strongly denied suggestions that the transactions were "something illegal or unauthorized." CFO Asia said that if there was truly no corporate malfeasance, there are "uncomfortable questions about the competence of the internal and external teams that evaluated the three acquisitions, as well as the capabilities of the senior managers and board members that accepted the sky-high valuations and approved the deals."^[38] Nikkei Business said similarly that the size of the losses "could very well call management responsibility into question"^[15]

In a commentary in the Financial Times entitled "Olympus’s deceit was dishonourable", John Gapper noted that "It is still possible to believe that the accused trio of directors ... thought they were behaving honourably ... [in hiding] failure discreetly and not to make their predecessors lose face." He noted that accounting scandals were not uniquely Japanese, but that it was "a nice piece of corporate satire to conceal losses by exploiting the widespread habit of paying too much for acquisitions and writing them down – the 'advisory fee' was especially creative". Gapper criticised the weakness in governance, particularly how 12 out of 15 directors were either executives or former executives of the company, and that Hideo Yamada, head of the Audit Board, was complicit in the scam. He also noted that auditors KPMG and Ernst & Young would have to answer tough questions about why the manipulation was never discovered or properly questioned.^[69]

Investors have expressed opinions that the management of such listed companies have unfairly damaged their corporate value counter to shareholder interests and have cited underlying problems in the quality of Japanese corporate governance ... They have even expressed fears that such issues are occurring in other listed companies.

— Tokyo Stock Exchange statement^[21]

Bloomberg View columnist William Pesek said: "Japan's corporate culture of denial, of ignoring problems and letting them fester, keeps running up against a globalized world that values agility, innovation and transparency. Olympus demonstrates all too painfully how much Old Japan tolerates a lack of accountability among senior executives; inadequate disclosure; a disinclination to challenge authority and absolute deference to corporate boards regardless of share performance." While he also observed that the independence of the directors was inadequate, he said Japanese executives were much more moderately paid compared to American ones. "Shareholders assume directors are smart, devoted people working for the good of Japan Inc. Tough questions are rarely asked."^[70] Errol Oh of The Star said a company apology for a fall in the share price "trivialises the possible wrongdoings and misplaces emphasis on an effect rather than the cause ... Takayama's remark on the 'inconvenience' of a fall in share price reflects a common flaw in the mindset of the people who run listed companies. Somehow, they lose sight of the fact that they manage businesses, not share prices."^[71]

During a press conference in early November, Financial Services minister Shozaburo Jimi said the market should not call into question the standards of corporate governance of other listed companies just because of Olympus. However, some journals linked the case of Daio Paper Corp, also subject of a scandal involving diversion of funds by its chairman.^[72]

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 598