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Olympus sues 19 current, ex-board members for Y16.54 bil in damages

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The headline " considering" ????? What is there to consider ? 134 Billion yen-indipendant report-its all there in black and white.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This would have all moved along much faster if Woodford would have been given his job back...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

how about the part "thinks were not responsible..." a little more research olympus!!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Another lawsuit to liven up the proceedings. I'm sure the shareholders are enjoying the spectacle of a company flailing in all directions. Circular firing squad: Ready, aim, fire!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This just gets better and better. Yet they are allowing people to stay on and Woodward has quit the fight because of this. Idiots, the lot of them.

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only problem, they'll never get past the considering part. why consider? what else is there to consider??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

this just gets dumber & dumber, J-Inc & the govt are working in hyper drive to make this all go away its truly pathetic.

And we never hear anything about the $$$ in the Caymans, were did it go after it landed there, is it still there, who did it get transfered to after the Cayman drop............... this is utterly insane

4 ( +5 / -1 )

obviously they have to sue them as they are in turn certain to be sued by investors who lost half of their investment in the fall of the stock value.

the cayman wall st. organized crime stuff is definitely the more interesting story, but we don't even here about the investigation, with the exception that the one former nomura guy is holding up in hong kong, reacting with hostility to reporters...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

We all expect that this case be solved duly for the sake of Japan.. Action now ! There is now no doubt about a deception scheme and the former board members, the auditors, were naturally responsible.. They should be already in court..

1 ( +1 / -0 )

And this from my daily yomiuri today:

""Olympus submission of false statements was a very serious matter, but its impact was limited, the senior TSE official said. The official suggested that, at present, Olympus actions do not warrant delisting"""

WTF, just what does a J-company have to do to get into trouble, be criticized, fined, people jailed...................... now if it had been a company based from Europe or NAmerica I wonder what we wud be seeing now.............unbelieveable

3 ( +4 / -1 )

So the board will suit itself, the suits?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This is a consequence former Olympus executives need to pay for wrong doings.. I believe all Japanese business executves need to relearn ethics and social responsibility (corporation, emplyees, shareholders, and society as a whole).

Mr. Woodford suing Olympus, Olympus may suing former Olympus executives, prosecutors investingating a possible criminal charges, well story is getting to a pile of s@$%t. Where are the shareholders? I am sure that's next on the line. Oh, I forgot to add American shareholders are already suing Olympus.

Nobody wins in a bad business practice.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They'll sue them but they wont fire them?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

We should all be extremely grateful that " Japan has a unique culture", isn't that right?

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Kyodo said Olympus was likely to pick Takayama’s successor from among three board members the panel thinks were not responsible for concealing the losses.

What, the panel isn't going to check properly?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

How much do you want to bet they won't be sued for even 1/1000th of what they took? or even a fraction of their severance packages? They should be sued AT LEAST $10 billion a piece, and if they can't pay it immediately they can work it off in prison.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I thought picture was that of former PM Fukuda, back to topic? nothing, simple formality, no penalty, no jail term, suspended sentence and ...Olympus will funtion as if nothing ever happened.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

the cayman wall st. organized crime stuff is definitely the more interesting story, but we don't even here about the investigation, Always the way here though isn't it? The most interesting stuff gets swept under the rug and the boring stuff gets hashed out to death.

I believe all Japanese business executves need to relearn ethics and social responsibility (corporation, emplyees, shareholders, and society as a whole). Relearn???? How about learn? These guys in charge have never been honest - and it goes in cycles. The young guys are looking at everything they do and will do the exact same thing if/when they get their paws on power. The cycle continues and they wonder why no one wants to invest in Japan. This could have been Japan's chance to come clean, show the international business community they are sick and tire dof this crap and are going to be serious about it and clean up. What do they do instead? The usual. Deny, sweep, deny, sweep, carry on as usual. It is sickening and this case is just the tip of the iceberg.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"And this from my daily yomiuri today:

""Olympus submission of false statements was a very serious matter, but its impact was limited, the senior TSE official said. The official suggested that, at present, Olympus actions do not warrant delisting"""

WTF, just what does a J-company have to do to get into trouble, be criticized, fined, people jailed...................... now if it had been a company based from Europe or NAmerica I wonder what we wud be seeing now.............unbelieveable"

NOT TRUE WHERE was the current global recession started and caused by and for what kind of shady unregulated things?...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Does anyone know who in Olympus is leading the suit?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is all smoke and mirrors to appease the public and take away whatever little support Woodford had to win back his job.

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This could have been Japan's chance to come clean, show the international business community they are sick and tire dof this crap and are going to be serious about it and clean up.

tmarie -- great post and agree 100%. But assuming Japan Inc. could react any other way that in the manner they have -- "deny, sweep, deny, sweep, carry on as usual" -- is just wishful thinking -- at least in our lifetimes. The senior managers at Japanese companies know no other way to operate. It is the model that is drilled into them from the day they start work. As a result, "coming clean" does not even show up on their radar screens as a possibility. And that will not change for at least a couple of generations.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I believe all Japanese business executves need to relearn ethics and social responsibility (corporation, emplyees, shareholders, and society as a whole). ** Relearn???? How about learn?

@tmarie, Surprised to learn that. Ethics and Social Responsibility are still foreign language for Japanese.

No wonder Japan is still filled with corruptions and wrong doings. Probably, Japanese do not understand what a heck I am talking about here. Teaching ethics and social responsibility at all levels in government and private sectors are key to erase wrong doings and doers from society. It will take many years to see the outcome, but it is a worth to be considered. You go from there. .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No wonder Japan is still filled with corruptions and wrong doings. Probably, Japanese do not understand what a heck I am talking about here. Teaching ethics and social responsibility at all levels in government and private sectors are key to erase wrong doings and doers from society. It will take many years to see the outcome, but it is a worth to be considered. You go from there. .

And yet billions of billions are poured into a currency where such ethics and social responsiblity are not widely practiced.

Something doesn't add up, does it?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

And yet billions of billions are poured into a currency where such ethics and social responsiblity are not widely practiced.

Something doesn't add up, does it?

@nigelboy, for some reason, I do not follow your post. Are you talking about JOB YEN currency manipulation?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@nigelboy, for some reason, I do not follow your post. Are you talking about JOB YEN currency manipulation?

I'm talking about 円高。

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

it should be emphasized that the japanese institutional shareholders have been largely supportive of olympus, sort of circling the wagons... i suppose that they want to keep the compsny viable so that they don't loose more money with no chance to recoup, but it also makes them look sort of collusive in the coverup.

i guess it is only shareholders in america that are suing so far, but i would imagine that europeans will be pursuing that as well.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And this from my daily yomiuri today:

""Olympus submission of false statements was a very serious matter, but its impact was limited, the senior TSE official said. The official suggested that, at present, Olympus actions do not warrant delisting"""

WTF, just what does a J-company have to do to get into trouble, be criticized, fined, people jailed...................... now if it had been a company based from Europe or NAmerica I wonder what we wud be seeing now.............unbelieveable"

NOT TRUE WHERE was the current global recession started and caused by and for what kind of shady unregulated things?...

It has nothing to do with global recession. This issue has been discussed over and over in the world. We now have a 2nd thought about Japan. Face it and Fix it. No capital from investors mean no blood supply to Japan's survival. Critical.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@niegelboy, try to tie the topic to strong yen. Does the strong yen caused the Olympus financial meltdown? I am completely lost to comprehend.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japan doesn't sue people.... unless they exec actually took money for themselves!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

unless they exec actually took money for themselves!

Still many do not as Japanese are conflict avoiding people.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Suing for 16.54 billion where actual loss is at 134 billion yen?

I'm not really good at math, but is Olympus suing these geezers for interest, or just for show?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Was nice to get in before the 20% bump.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good luck getting that money back!z

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Can someone explain to dumb little me how on earth the company is suing the current and ex board members but have yet to fire the current ones? Am I missing something or is it the obvious lip service that even someone like myself can see plain as day? Fire everyone, sue the old guys, Woodford should be offered whatever he wants to come back and start afresh. Ha! We all know none of that will happen. Pathetic. And what is worse, is that the public here will look the other way while everyone stares in shock.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Can someone explain to dumb little me how on earth the company is suing the current and ex board members but have yet to fire the current ones?

Shifting a blame to someone else so that they are not going to be a legal target. This is commonly used strategy in a big law suit. FYI

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We know that crooked Kikukawa has been hiding his assets since he left Olympus and I expect other former board members have been doing the same. I suppose these lying scoundrels will all claim to be penniless (like the politicians) and Olympus will get nothing much out of them in the end.

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We know that crooked Kikukawa has been hiding his assets since he left Olympus

No luck to Kikukawa. Legally, all asset transfers Kikukawa and others made after the Olympus case exposure are still subject to financial subrogation. Good prosecutors will find all hidden assets. Do not worry. .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Suing for 16.54 billion where actual loss is at 134 billion yen?"

They are not being sued because the business lost money. They are being sued for not disclosing that the business lost money.

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@Mark_McCracken

True, but by not disclosing the loss, they were accomplices that led even to deceiving the investors ... local and foreign alike.

Let's face it, all businesses are volatile, facing the risk of loss or even bankruptcy at one time or another. Bad investments, failed projects and the like are all part of the gamble. Why should a very big international company need to hide this ... unless the money went someplace else and used for purposes other than for the company. This is the only logical explanation I could think of.

Now, by using company funds for other purposes, and the fact that not only one person tried to hide the fact, but several people in different departments conspiring together makes the story even more fishy.

Let's assume Olympus has 1 million shares. The market price of one Olympus share before the scandal was at 3,000 yen (more, but I don't remember the exact figures). Currently, it's at 1,292 yen. That's a loss of at least 1,708 yen per share, or equivalent to 1 billion 708 million yen. And that's just assuming that Olympus has 1 million shares.

From an investor's point of view, a loss of 1,700 yen per share is quite a big bite out of my pocket.

And Olympus selling new shares won't help the investors who already lost money.

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Suing for 16.54 billion where actual loss is at 134 billion yen?

They could never get back 134 billion yen, whereas the directors might have 16bn between them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"@niegelboy, try to tie the topic to strong yen. Does the strong yen caused the Olympus financial meltdown? I am completely lost to comprehend."

Perhaps you need to read what you wrote.

Put it another way. Why would foreign investors pour money into a currency market of a nation that is allegedly "filled with corruptions and wrongdoings."?

Highlighting the corruption of a single company like Olympus is fine. But to extend it to the entire corporate culture of a single nation based on this incident is weak for I can list many companies in Western nations that would make Olympus scandal look like a simple journel entry error.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@ngelboy,

Highlighting the corruption of a single company like Olympus is fine. But to extend it to the entire corporate culture of a single nation based on this incident is weak for I can list many companies in Western nations that would make Olympus scandal look like a simple journel entry error.

Very true, we went through that in 2008 and recently with MF Global.

I cannot speak for other investors, but many US investors are reading a subtle message from Olympus that the Japanese financial statements may not be always true either.

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Bubble economy started as a result of the cheap money policy that the BOJ took as countermeasure for the strong yen recession that started after the Plaza Accord. Money was supplied in abundance and big companies began to invest their excess money or what they could borrow at low interest from banks. Everybody was at "zaitech". And the bubble burst and the huge speculated money vanished (er.....where?). To cover up the loss, Olympus consulted with stockbrokers who taught them the knowhow. And they paid some 3 billion yen by way of remuneration to the stockbrokers and another 3 billion plus to bankers of foreign banks which financed the investment funds they set up to buy the below par financial instruments from Olympus. And just the day before the former Brit president stepped down, Goldman Sachs sold short Olympus shares and gained 2 billion. So it seems financiers always have an eye to the main chance anyway. I hope the top-rated company will not be taken over when its stock price is sagging.

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Excuse me, but this still sounds good businesses for the ones involved: the new administration is seeking about US$210 MILLION from the ones possible guilty, when the amounts "evaporated" where at least 4 times the one being asked.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wonder how much Woodford is hoping to get...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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