Toshiba commits to reconstructing board after fresh scandal
Tokyo, Jun 14 (EFE).- Japanese tech conglomerate Toshiba on Monday pledged to reconstruct its board of directors after the departure of two of its members over a scandal of the board colluding against its activist shareholders.
The company’s head, Osamu Nagayama, said Monday in statements to the media that the company will take steps to reinforce its board of directors to include a wider range of views and ultimately to improve its governance.
Discussions would be held with shareholders to take their views into account when rebuilding the council, according to Nagayama, who also announced the holding of an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.
Nagayama’s statement came a day after it was announced that two members of the board of directors would leave following the findings of an independent investigation into the controversial results of a previous shareholders’ meeting.
The investigation concluded that Toshiba’s board had colluded with senior officials of the government to weaken the position of activist investors on the board in an unfair manner.
Toshiba announced Sunday the departure of two executives, Masayasu Toyohara and Masaharu Kamo, and said it would take necessary actions to identify the source of the problem, according to a company statement.
Toshiba’s board has been in a prolonged conflict with activist investors, among them Singapore’s Effissimo Capital, its largest shareholder.
Effisimo was the promoter of another independent investigation that uncovered irregularities in the vote to re-elect Nobuaki Kurumatani as president and CEO.
Kurumatani resigned from office in mid-April in the midst of a power struggle for control of the tech conglomerate.
Toshiba’s second largest shareholder 3D Investment Fund, another Singapore-based activist investor, has called on the current board of directors headed by Nagayama to resign completely as a result of new findings on governance irregularities, according to local media reports.
Toshiba, once one of Japan’s largest technology corporations, has been plagued by serious economic problems for years, including accounting scandals, and has been forced to detach itself from several of its major branches, such as semiconductors, image sensors and computers. EFE
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