Toshiba Says Ex-CEO Kurumatani Violated Ethical Standards
Toshiba Says Ex-CEO Kurumatani’s Acts Violated Ethical Standards
(Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp. said former Chief Executive Officer Nobuaki Kurumatani violated ethical standards when he and the management team worked against activist investors trying to gain more control of the conglomerate, according to a long-awaited report on clashes at the Japanese corporate icon.
The probe into Toshiba’s handling of its annual shareholders’ meeting concluded that executives didn’t engage in any illegal acts that breached duty of care, but they were in violation of ethical standards. The company showed “excessive cautiousness” toward foreign investors, the investigating committee concluded.
“I am very unhappy with the report because it states we have violated ethical standards without specifying,” said Masaharu Kamo, a former Toshiba corporate senior vice president named in the report. “If we did something wrong, I want them to pinpoint what we did wrong.”
The latest report is Toshiba’s response to an independent investigation into governance at the 146-year-old company. The earlier effort detailed how Toshiba tapped government allies to try to influence voting at its annual general meeting last year. Management worked hand in hand with public officials in an attempt to sway the outcome, it said.
Toshiba’s own report argued that its executive officers were not in breach of their duty of care and its directors were not adequately informed in order to be held responsible. That was not the case for Kurumatani, who left as CEO in April, it said.
“The Committee concludes that Mr. Kurumatani’s acts were not in breach of duty of care, but they were in violation of Ethical Standards,” it said.
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