Osamu Nagayama ousted in rare rebuke over annual general meeting in a watershed moment for Japanese corporate governance
(AF) Shareholders at crisis-ridden Toshiba on Friday voted out Osamu Nagayama, the conglomerate’s chairman, and one other director in a rare rebuke after the company was found to have colluded with the government in suppressing foreign investor interests.
For many, the result at the annual general meeting marks a watershed moment for corporate governance in Japan after activist Toshiba shareholders prevailed earlier this year in securing a probe into the allegations of pressure on overseas investors.
But Nagayama’s supporters say his failure to win re-election will only set Toshiba further back, depriving the company, which has lurched from crisis to crisis since 2015, of experienced leadership.
Nagayama lost the confidence of investors after it was revealed that Toshiba and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had met over how to neutralise activist shareholders at the company’s 2020 annual general meeting (AGM).
NO EVIDENCE FOUND
The company’s own report, conducted under the supervision of its audit committee, concluded that the AGM had been fairly held and found no evidence of company pressure on shareholders.
But a 147-page independent report detailed collaboration between the company and the government and alleged that Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary at the time, received updates on activists’ campaigns. It said the AGM was “not fairly managed”.
Board member Nobuyuki Kobayashi, a member of the audit committee, was also voted out.
A breakdown of the vote was not immediately disclosed. The newly elected board will meet later to discuss whom to nominate as new chairman.
With reporting by Reuters
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