Francois
Hierdie was ’n interessante storie in die Financial Times en in groot detail deur hulle gedek.
Daar is twee probleme wat uitgelig moet word in jou brief.
Dit is moeilik om hierdie voor die deur van wit westerlinge te wil plaas en dit as ’n stok te wil gebruik, aangesien hierdie ’n Japannese maatskappy is en moet die kultuur van Japan dalk eerder ondersoek word.
Olympus’s admission that it had covered up losses on securities investments dating back to the 1990s by booking them as acquisition fees of up to $1.4bn between 2006 and 2008 has once again thrown the spotlight on the weak corporate governance of Japanese companies.
Hoekom wit westerlinge daarvoor blameer.
Tsutomu Okubo, “a ruling party member of the Upper House” is aan die woord:
We have to look into whether the corporate auditor system was functioning properly, whether the company’s accountants were properly checking the company and whether the board of directors acted as a check [on management]. The role of the accountants [in disclosing financial fraud] is important. In that respect, the accounting firm has to function properly and those that do not have to be penalised. In some cases, there might be a need to take their licence away”.
The Olympus affair also raises serious questions about the role of the board, said Toshio Oguchi, representative director of Governance for Owners in Tokyo.
“Even if they didn’t know about the tobashi [transfer of losses off the books], the fact that the board approved the payment cannot have been a correct decision,” he said. “The board did not function at all.”
Die persoon wat dit alles ontbloot het, is ’n wit Westerling, Michael Woodford:
The Olympus veteran, who was appointed president in February and promoted to chief executive two weeks before being fired, says the split with Mr Kikukawa came after he questioned deals between 2006 and 2008 that he reckons destroyed $1.3bn of shareholder value.
Dus, meer korrek, is hoe die Japannese met ’n toesmeerdery besig was, die wit Westerling wat dit ontbloot het en sy werk verloor het.
Mr Woodford told the Financial Times last week that he was prepared to return to Olympus. However, such a return is sure to be fiercely opposed by the current management and could further strain the internal unity of the crisis-hit company. “A complete newcomer would be better,” said one Olympus manager on Sunday.
Baie dankie
Wouter