Nissan to Cancel Ghosn's Retirement, Stock-Linked Compensation

(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. is canceling yet-to-be-paid compensation benefits for Carlos Ghosn, in the latest steps taken by the Japanese automaker to distance itself from its former chairman.

Ghosn, who was arrested in November on charges of financial misconduct, will no longer receive unpaid retirement benefits of 4.44 billion yen ($41 million), Nissan disclosed in a stock filing Thursday. A 2.27 billion yen share-price-linked plan, called stock appreciation rights, is also being canceled, Nissan said.

Compensation is a key issue in the allegations against Ghosn, whose arrest destabilized the auto alliance he created between Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Ghosn has denied all charges against him, including arguing he acted appropriately by not including deferred compensation in regulatory filings.

Ghosn’s total compensation reached 1.65 billion yen in the latest fiscal year, which ended in March, including 410 million yen actually paid and 1.24 billion yen to be deferred until his retirement, according to Nissan’s filing.

Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan’s chief executive officer, received 404 million yen in compensation after he took a pay cut over inspection issues at the company’s plants in Japan and the Ghosn scandal. The CEO has said he will return half of his compensation in the April-June period, while a newly established renumeration committee will decide his compensation for the rest of the current fiscal year.

This week, Nissan shareholders approved creating three board committees: nomination, audit and compensation. The governance structure is designed to boost oversight and prevent the concentration of corporate power in one individual, seeking to address the lapses that led to Ghosn’s arrest.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ma Jie in Tokyo at jma124@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Reed Stevenson, Ville Heiskanen

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