The shares of Olympus have fallen by an
additional 16.3% as pressure mounts to de-list the company from the
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), following revelations of accounting
fraud.
Olympus has to file its quarterly report by 14
December to the TSE or face de-listing.
“If the company does not submit the quarterly
report within one month of the statutory submission deadline (up to
14 December, 2011), stocks of the company shall be delisted,” the
TSE said in statement.
Ernst & Young (E&Y) ShinNihon is
Olympus’ auditor after taking over from KPMG ASZA in 2009.
In a letter to the TSE, the Asian Corporate
Governance Association (ACGA) said while it finds the alleged
misstatements of Olympus “deeply troubling”, delisting could push
the company and its stakeholders into even bigger trouble.
“Delisting would complicate the company’s
efforts to return to normal operations as soon as possible,” the
ACGA said.
Friday’s fillings showed that Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp,
Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities Co have followed the lead of several other
shareholders in reducing their collective stake in Olympus, which
highlights uncertainty over the future of the company.
The scandal came to light after Michael
Woodford, Olympus’s ousted chief executive, asked questions about
excessive advisory payments it made in its 2008 acquisition of the
UK medical equipment maker Gyrus, worth $2.2bn.
Olympus has since admitted some of those fees
were “used in part” to help hide losses on investment
securities.
New York Times said it obtained a memo by
Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, the Tokyo
prosecutor’s office and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department,
which alleges $4.9 billion is unaccounted for and that an
investigation is taking place to determine whether much of that
money went to companies with links to organised crime.
