Nissan ends Ghosn's two-decade reign with last-minute Renault backing

All seems like lies, no investigations into all 3 companies finance depts, yeah someone will really send emails to manipulate their salaries? REALLY... every single company email is monitored.. and I am sure it would have been monitored all the years he was there and the same with the AUDITORS in the company, yeah where are these auditors who looks into every single thing a publicly traded company does..

This is weird, have people slumped slow low? are people that low IQ'd to not know what lies and fabrications are these days?

Bad enough people are easily fooled, remember WMD, Y2K the hype behind those for example? people believe anything without raising quesitons or seeing every angle.. sad world we live in..

Ghosn had since 2002 instructed that about $100,000 a year be paid to his elder sister as remuneration for a non-existent advisory role

Jeez, not even Trump has stooped that low, yet.. Ghosn is finished

Any G7 nation boasting the fundamental institutions of a free society, following the principles of a democracy, and rule of law. To brief the media on details of an on going criminal investigation would be a act of sub judice. This is trial by media in any other name.

Ghosn and Kelly have no means to defend themselves. Allegations are being briefed to the media that remain unproven in a court. Its outrageous.

Once again Japan Inc. telling the world do not come to this country and try to change the status quo.

Ghosn got to close.

I wonder how Ghosn's current housing compares to his usual housing. Is he put in special housing away from hardened criminals?

On the TV today, they were reporting expectations here that Ghosn will react and come back fighting.

In other news I saw a former Nissan employee furious that he had been made redundant for the 'good' of the company by Ghosn at a time that was crucial for his own livelihood and family, whereas Ghosn himself had gone on to amass such a fortune.

itsonlyrocknroll

Is spot on and correct, Carlos and Kelly should come out fighting and take down Saikawa and the other crooked dodgy dinosaurs within the company.

I wonder how Ghosn's current housing compares to his usual housing. Is he put in special housing away from hardened criminals?

A previous article suggests that he is being held in Kosuge (Tokyo Detention Center). I thought that as for defendants who have already been indicted.

If he is being held in a police station, then conditions are very squalid. Also designed to help get a confession.

Tokyo Detention Center looks modern, but the régime inside is designed to cause the defendant maximum stress, anxiety and depression.

Timing.... at the precise time he was to present a merger plan to Nissan's shareholder's, Nissan's management ratted him out to Japanese Tax Authorities. "Et tu Brute". I'll never buy a Nissan again.

There has to be due process, a presumption of innocence.

How can any potential Jury act impartially, with media briefing of/to unsubstantiated assumptions/accusations without any recourse to a fair trial?

Nissan "gasslighted" the guy. You've been there. They compliment you and kiss your butt to the point where you start to believe it yourself. Then just when your gasslighted arrogance gets to its peak.... they ask you questions on how you do it.... and before you know you it... they've turned you into the person you yourself hate the most. An arrogant self centered fool.

It was all good for Nissan to help hide all of this, once he planned the merger, bam out!

The board meeting today can remove him from the chairmanship but not from the board. For that to happen a shareholders meeting is necessary.

Can't help but be reminded of Olympus.

Foreigner saves the company then gets shafted by the J-inc. dinosaurs.

where was the media storm for all those dodgy Japanese CEOs that have been falsifying records/reports for years?

I’m just glad to see Ghosn get a fair trial before any judgement is passed.

I dunno. This thing stinks really bad to me, but when the evidence comes out maybe I’ll think otherwise.

Miscarriage of justice.

Nissan's Stock exchange filings show, it is Saikawa who is responsible of the accuracy of the financial statements in question. See the filing on November 12, 2018 at EDINET.

当社取締役社長西川廣人及び最高財務責任者軽部博は、当社の第120期第２四半期(自 平成30年７月１日　至 平成30年９月30日)の四半期報告書の記載内容が金融商品取引法令に基づき適正に記載されていることを確認した。

確認に当たり、特記すべき事項はない。

It says Saikawa has confirmed that the financial statements are duly presented and there is nothing special to mention to the investors. This is an utter lie to the shareholders and the public. He knew the financials were under investigation and had legal responsibility to disclose the fact to the investors as soon as possible, which he did not.

Another filing by Nissan on June 28, 2008 is as follows.

取締役社長西川廣人及び最高財務責任者軽部博は、当社の財務報告に係る内部統制の整備及び運用に責任を有しており、企業会計審議会の公表した「財務報告に係る内部統制の評価及び監査の基準並びに財務報告に係る内部統制の評価及び監査に関する実施基準の設定について(意見書)」に示されている内部統制の基本的枠組みに準拠して財務報告に係る内部統制を整備及び運用している

It says that President Saikawa and CFO Karube are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the internal controls of the financial reporting, which they failed. If anyone is liable for the inaccuracy of the financial statements, it is Saikawa and Karube.

The charge against Ghosn is that he failed to disclose his fringe benefits in the Nissan's financial statements. By the way, disclosing fringe benefits to the public is one thing, reporting fringe benefits as income to the tax office is another. They should not be confused. Ask yourself if you disclose your earnings to the public.

Anyway, I looked through the financial statements of other Japanese companies, and none of them discloses fringe benefits of the directors. All they disclose are cash remuneration, stock remuneration and stock-option remuneration. I want to challenge the prosecutors if there is even one Japanese firm that discloses fringe benefits of the directors. Toyota does not. Honda does not. Nissan's Saikawa does not. Why not? Because disclosing fringe benefits to the public is not regulational requirement.

The prosecutors are pressing charges that do not exist in the laws. Their game plan is to extort confession of some other crime. I doubt it works.

"Japan's industry minister and France's finance minister are due to meet in Paris on Thursday to seek ways to stabilise it."

This is very abnormal. It is understandable that French minister wants to meet because French government owns 15% of Renault. But Japanese industry minister does not have any control over Nissan or the investigation, or the stock exchange filing. He has nothing to talk about. Unless he is orchestrating all the farce.

These are serious allegations indeed.

I am struggling to interpret how the protocols and audit procedures failed to be flagged by both the auditing and compensation committees

Corporate governance and directors' duties in Japan: overview

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/1-502-0177?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&comp=pluk&bhcp=1

It's unfortunate that the two people kicked off the Nissan board are... Foreigners, as one could draw the conclusion that it's simply because of that rather than any other reason. That said, has anything like this happened before within any other Japanese Company ?

Itsonlyrocknroll, thanks. Great link. The section titled "Disclosure" is pertinent.

Disclosure

An open KK must disclose the aggregate remuneration of its directors (in KKs with a supervisory committee this includes directors who are members of the supervisory committee and other directors) or the respective remuneration of each director to its shareholders in its business report. If directors are given stock options, the company must disclose an outline of the terms and conditions of the stock options granted and the number of directors who have stock options. In its business report, a company with outside directors must make separate disclosures for outside directors and those who are not outside directors.

In addition, a listed KK must disclose the following information in the securities report under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law:

The amount of remuneration and a breakdown by the type of payments (for example, salary, bonus, stock option or retirement payment) for each director, if his remuneration for the relevant fiscal year is JPY100 million or more.

> The total amounts of remuneration for directors and outside directors and a breakdown by the type of payments.

Ghosn received more than 100 yen. So he had to disclose "the amount of remuneration and a breakdown by the type of payments". But it does not say any disclosure requirements about fringe benefits, because it is not required.

I wonder if Nissan will issue a massive number of shares soon to dilute Renault's ownership.

Jeez, not even Trump has stooped that low, yet.. Ghosn is finished

Agree with the latter. There's no way Nissan would cause itself such problems unless it was ascertained of the claims veracity and concerned of its own legal culpability - an issue which will no doubt be scrutinized. I'm not making light of this, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few suicides amongst Nissan management in the coming weeks or months.

As for the former - No, this would have been (and likely was) an every-day occurrence for Trump. There's a reason why Trump is panicking as investigators are closing in on his tax returns and sources of finance.

Jeez, not even Trump has stooped that low, yet.. Ghosn is finished

you mean using a charity organisation for your own personal use or declaring bankruptsy 5 times , losing $billions left for the small invester to take the loss, all the while your personal wealth increases. you mean that low!?

Hi CH3CHO, So many checks and balances within directors' remuneration auditing process even for small medium sized businesses with subsidiaries abroad.

I am flummoxed as to how all this alleged criminality was missed.

I wonder if Nissan will issue a massive number of shares soon to dilute Renault's ownership.

yes it doesn seem the French government is hell bent on using Nissan as a cash cow for its Renault French employees. If Renault cant stay profitable without sucking on the t*t of Nissan then it really shouldnt be in the alliance

How can any potential Jury act impartially, with media briefing of/to unsubstantiated 

Has Japan got a jury system yet?

The Yomiuri, Japan's biggest-circulation daily, cited unnamed sources as saying that Nissan's internal investigation found that Ghosn had since 2002 instructed that about $100,000 a year be paid to his elder sister as remuneration for a non-existent advisory role.

Ohhhh come on, gotta take the bad with the good! Tax evasion is to gaijin CEOs what falsifying data is to J bosses ;)

Valid point Ex_Res, I understand the Japan criminal justice system re introduced a trial by jury in 2009. A quasi system......

Trial by jury returns to Japan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/03/japan-trial-by-jury-returns

Unlike Western companies, Japanese companies don't typically use outside committees to monitor what's going on

Japanese companies also typically don't pay CEOs as high as Western companies

Ghosn likely wanted to be paid like a Western CEO, but took the lower Japanese CEO pay, but in exchange, he was making up the difference thru other less legal means

But who is the whistleblower? Without outside committees monitoring, who would've known?

Ghosn planned to make the alliance permanent, but Nissan is against that. Yet with Ghosn's power, he could bully his way. Is the whistleblower someone in Nissan?

At last, The truth came out, Some bodies ,who want every thing Carlos ever had,came

to light as predicted.What these persons do not know are 1). Nissan is on Japanese soil.

2). People with knowledge abt Japanese will truly understand......Never to save Japan Inc

3). Do not trust even yr Japanese advisers or top Japanese working top excutives.

Wow, jelousy, deep root of want , status and time waiting , really made Japan Inc.

Bad kansayaku, bad accounting system and really poor minded & poor hearted People.

This is the painting of the next heads of Nissan. Not a hero, a coward who cannot say no,

and using normal people to get , what they want. Sorry, I love Japanese good people But this is a bad opera for Japan inc & Nissan.

itsonlyrocknroll:

Ghosn and Kelly have no means to defend themselves. 

Of course they do. Tokyo District Prosecutors Office will have to decide either to prosecute a case against them or release them. Either way, they will have all their time to talk either directly or indirectly through their lawyers.

This is how you say "-Thank you for everything you've done! Now our corporation is healthy again, thanks to you, and to take back control of our assets we must kick you out swiftly; we're sure you do understand. Good luck, we assume from here, bye bye!"

UlsterBoy:

That said, has anything like this happened before within any other Japanese Company ?

Yes. One of the most famous cases was against Mr Takafumi Horie, the founder and CEO of Livedore, in 2006. He was a young star in Japanese business world. It shocked the Japanese society just like the current case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takafumi_Horie

UlsterBoy:

That said, has anything like this happened before within any other Japanese Company ?*

Yes. One of the most famous cases was against Mr Takafumi Horie, the founder and CEO of Livedore, in 2006.

I just found out Mr Horie tweeted about Mr Ghosn:

"It is cold in the Tokyo Detention Center at this time. It is hard to live in a detention house in a foreign land. Carlos Ghosn. I wonder if should bring him a cushion though I do not know him."

https://twitter.com/takapon_jp/status/1065137281340661760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1065137281340661760&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.livedoor.com%2Farticle%2Fdetail%2F15629044%2F

@Akie... Innocent until proven guilty! So far he hasn't been charged because there isn't enough evidence. A lot of hearsays and unnamed sources as usual! Your comments seem too harsh to pass judgement without adequate evidence. Are you saying this because he is a foreigner? Racist? Do you have the same feelings towards hundreds of Japanese executives who are involved in scandals from data fabrication, under reporting benefits to power harassment?

I think Ghosn knows who probably dobbed him in - someone from Nissan who he regularly comes across who doesn’t really like him.

So no due process, jury and trial only by media. Japan sadly sinks to a new low.

Socrateos

The TR article clearly states.......

Nissan said its board dismissed Ghosn and fellow representative director Greg Kelly, an alleged co-conspirator,"after reviewing a detailed report of the internal investigation" - the first time Renault had seen key findings.

With Ghosn and Kelly still in custody, neither man has been able to defend himself publicly against the allegations.

The article also suggests/implies that, allegedly, the Tokyo prosecutor office have been leaking/briefing details of the there investigation to the media.....

Japanese newspapers have been awash with leaked details of the Tokyo prosecutor's investigation into Ghosn. Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday he had emailed Kelly orders to make false statements about his remuneration.

The Yomiuri, Japan's biggest-circulation daily, said Nissan had been paying Ghosn's elder sister $100,000 a year since 2002 for a non-existent advisory role. She lived in a luxury Rio de Janeiro apartment funded by a Nissan subsidiary, according the report, which cited unidentified sources.

These are all uninstantiated, hearsay, without being subject to the scrutiny of cross examination in a court of law.

No legal council would contemplate advice suggesting answer accusations leaked to the media, risking prejudicing there client defence in court.

This is why due process is essential to maintain the integrity of the court system