Olympus shares should not be delisted: former CEO Micahel Woodford
23 Nov 2011
The shares of scam-hit Japanese camera-maker Olympus Corp should not be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but the company needs a new management, former CEO Michael Woodford, said in the Japanese capital on Wednesday.
Sacked by Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the disgraced former chairman and president of Olympus, Woodford – a Briton who has been with the company for three decades – returned to Tokyo for the first time since his dismissal on 14 October.
Woodford was ousted days after he was made CEO, as he raised concerns about payments of over a billion dollars to little known firms who acted as intermediaries, helping the company with its overseas acquisitions. Earlier this month, the company admitted that the hefty fees were paid to the firms to hide massive losses that Olympus had made over the years.
Woodford had earlier refused to go to Tokyo after being sacked, fearing for his safety. There has been speculation that organised crime syndicates could have been involved in the illegal payments made by the company. But a team of investigators has ruled out the role of the mafia.
''I'm reassured about the security,'' Woodford said after landing in Tokyo. ''The Japanese authorities are aware and arrangements have been made that I'm satisfied with.'' Woodford also said he was willing to run the company. Though he was sacked as CEO, he continues to be a director, and will be attending a scheduled board meeting on Friday.
Woodford also plans to meet prosecutors probing the scandal in the company including the securities watchdog and the police. Woodford said he was confident the investigators would uncover the truth. ''The metropolitan police to me is the one that probably has the capability to investigate this in the right way,'' he said.
Foreign investors believe Woodford is the right candidate to head the company, which has lost two-thirds of its valuation since the scandal came to light last month.
Besides Japanese investigators, the US Federal Bureau of Investigations and Britain's Serious Fraud Office are also probing the scam. The Tokyo Stock Exchange has also warned that the company risks being listed and has put it on a watch-list.