By: The Guardian, 21 Jul 2015

The similarities between the Toshiba case and that of Olympus has not gone unnoticed in Japan as The Guardian writes.

The Toshiba accounting scandal comes just six weeks after the introduction of a corporate governance code in Japan that was meant to pave the way to a more open dialogue between companies and shareholders.

Toshiba overstated its operating profits by 151.8bn yen (£780m) over several years in accounting irregularities involving its top management, independent investigators said on Monday. On Tuesday, the president, vice-chairman and adviser quit.

“The scandal is definitely is a big hit for the Abe regime and Abenomics, since reformed corporate governance is a key element of Japan’s growth strategy,” said Andrew DeWit, professor in the school of policy studies at Tokyo’s Rikkyo University. (…)

Japanese companies have had a history of difficult relationships with their shareholders. An ACCA and KPMG Singapore corporate governance report released in November 2014 ranked Japan 21st of 25 countries surveyed, behind the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and China.

To read the full story go to The Guardian