Scandale financier Olympus : fil de synthèse

[Mistral75]

= = = Olympus minority shareholders file injunction, join calls for Woodford return = = =

A group of three minority Olympus shareholders joined the chorus of voices calling for the return of the company's ousted British chief executive after filing a court injunction Monday, a representative told dealReporter.

The shareholders filed a provisional injunction at the Tokyo district court against Olympus' 14 directors, demanding the return of Michael Woodford as well as the suspension of the directors from their duties.

"We want Mr. Woodford to return to the company," the representative said. "If the 14 directors, including former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, are suspended from performing their work, court-picked lawyers will run the company."

The representative said the shareholders expect a court decision in about a month as the filing is a provisional version of a formal injunction they filed the same day.

In the formal suit, the shareholders are demanding that the 14 board members should no longer be in place by the time of the company's AGM, scheduled for June 2012, and that the salaries of the company's executives should be kept to less than JPY 350m per year, down from the existing remuneration scheme of less than JPY 100m a month, among other things.

The move comes as Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission is said to be considering a decision that delisting the company is not warranted. The regulator may instead impose penalties on Olympus if its false financial statements do not have a material impact.

The calls for a return of Woodford are also gathering momentum, meanwhile.

Koji Miyata, former head of Olympus' medical systems business who served on the board from 1995 to 2006, has also launched a campaign for his reinstatement. Miyata's website has so far gathered about 110 signatures, more than 70% of which came from former employees, customers and shareholders. The website is currently unavailable after receiving about 30,000 hits on Saturday.

Baillie Gifford of the UK, which holds 4% of Olympus, is also calling for a return of Woodford as president of Olympus.

Southeastern Asset Management, another major shareholder, has urged the camera maker to immediately terminate the positions of four directors, including Kikukawa, and hold an EGM to discuss a shake-up of the company's entire management team.

The injunction filed by the three shareholders also follows a court filing by an individual Olympus shareholder earlier this month, which requested a delinquent charge of JPY 139.419bn (USD 1.8bn) if the company were found guilty of failing to pursue fiduciary duties.

An Olympus spokesperson, meanwhile, said the company is not aware of the filing by the three minority shareholders.

Source : dealReporter

[Mistral75]

The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it has launched an official investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing at Olympus.

Source : Amateur Photographer http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/sfo_to_investigate_olympus_news_310453.html

[Mistral75]

Olympus prepares to take legal action against its own executives

Source : Electronista http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/11/16/olympus.scrambles.to.restore.public.trust/

[cam1]

Premiere fois que les yakusa sont cites.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/business/global/japanese-police-investigate-olympus.html

[Mistral75]

Le sentiment de Michael Woodford (le directeur général renvoyé après avoir fait rapport au conseil d'administration des dysfonctionnements qu'il avait constatés) quant à l'activité photo d'Olympus :

In an interview with Amateur Photographer (AP) magazine Woodford also revealed that he would retain the camera business if reinstated as Olympus boss.

'The camera business is stronger than it's been for several years but we have to see where Olympus's future goes,' he told AP.

'We have gone back into profit in the consumer business. I would keep it for the moment.'

'If the business continues in its current form then "consumer" is certainly not in the area I am saying we should cut.'

Woodford hinted that he would have felt differently had he been in charge three or four years ago.

Though unwilling to make any long-term predictions, he feels that, in future, the camera side must be 'super-fit'.

Though he sees a big future for 'high-end superzoom' compact cameras it seems that Olympus's Pen-branded compact camera system (CSC) models have revitalised the business, and are key to the future of the camera division, giving it a platform to 'rebuild'.

'I am a great believer in product... we make world-beating cameras, wonderful lenses, sexy-styled bodies. We can do that – that's what I've learned as I've got closer to the camera business.'

However, he expressed frustration that Olympus did not have more resources to invest in a market that is becoming ever more competitive, and now pitching up against the likes of camera giant Nikon in the CSC arena.

Source : Amateur Photographer http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/exolympus_ceo_i_would_keep_camera_business_news_310486.html

[Goblin]

Mazette  A le lire - j'espere vraiment que son aureole ne lui serre pas trop 

Mais si elle coince quand même - je suis sur que les gars de la division "sondes anales", ceux qui apportent les vrais sous dans la compagnie mais qui ne sont pas une cible aussi crédule que les bêtes photographes en attente de bonnes nouvelles, auront le bon lubrifiant pour faire passer cette tête grossissant sans cesse a travers cette auréole a diamètre fixe (ou du moins - a taux de dilatation moindre).

[mansart]

Goblin, tu veux que Michael Woodford ne manipule pas brillamment la langue de bois.

Michael Woodford a une possibilité de remonter sur la plus haute marche du podium,
il doit donc tenir un langage rassurant.
Plus question de cracher dans la soupe.

A ce niveau de responsabilités économiques, le discours est aussi fiable que le programme électoral d'un parti politique. LOL

[Mistral75]

Première fois que les yakuza sont cités.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/business/global/japanese-police-investigate-olympus.html

L'article du New York Times, qui cite un rapport transmis par les enquêteurs à l'autorité des marchés financiers japonaise, au procureur et à la police, fait froid dans le dos. Je cite quelques passages :

"Investigators believe illicit payouts from Olympus went far beyond the roughly $1.4 billion in merger fees and acquisition payments that have come under recent scrutiny, potentially making it one of the biggest scandals in Japanese corporate history."

"According to the investigators' memo, Olympus made payments amounting to many times the losses it sought to hide, and investigators suspect much of the additional money went to crime groups."

"Olympus paid a total of 481 billion yen, or $6.25 billion, through questionable acquisition payments, investments and advisory fees from 2000 to 2009, according to the memo, but only 105 billion yen has been written down or otherwise accounted for in its financial statements. That leaves 376 billion yen, or $4.9 billion, unaccounted for, according to the memo.

The memo says investigators believe that over half of that amount has been channeled to organized crime syndicates, including the country's largest, the Yamaguchi Gumi. The memo does not make clear whether Olympus knew about those links."

"The memo suggests that Olympus may have been coerced by organized crime syndicates that knew about or helped with previous cover-ups to channel ever-increasing funds out of the company.

"Olympus was exploited over its cover-up totaling losses of 50 billion yen, and since 2000, over 200 billion yen has disappeared into the underground economy," the memo said."

[eric-p]

Bref, les olympussiens n'ont plus qu'à se couper le petit doigt pour sauver leur entreprise !

[lino73]

Se couper le petit doigt! certes non
Mais cracher un max au bassinet pour la moindre optique ou le moindre accessoire!  Oui

[Glouglou]

Si tout ceci est exact c'est cuit ...

[sygar]

ben voilà la réponse à tous ceux qui se demandaient pourquoi le E5 était si cher...

[Dominique]

Si tout ceci est exact c'est cuit ...

""""""
Pas de panique.

L'image de Olympus n'est pas atteinte.

Il est probable (et même souhaitable) que Olympus soit liquidé, puis qu'une nouvelle société Olympus  soit créée.

[Crinquet80]

http://lauer.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/11/25/olympus-retour-vers-lenfer/

Où il est dit que Michael Woodford, l'ex-PDG d'Olympus , pourrait très bien faire son retour à la tête d'Olympus en tant que sauveur inespéré ! 

[Mistral75]

Devinette: quel forum reflex CI regroupe deux marques à la fois ?...

Autre devinette : quel forum CI sépare deux marques alors que l'une appartient à l'autre ?

[Glouglou]

La vente d'une des activités d'Olympus semble à l'ordre du jours d'après Reuters ...

[Mistral75]

La vente d'une des activités d'Olympus semble à l'ordre du jours d'après Reuters ...

"Japan's Olympus Corp has launched a review of its business structure, according to an internal memo, amid speculation the 92-year-old company may have to sell assets in order to survive a massive accounting scandal."

La suite ici : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/29/us-olympus-idUSTRE7AS0BA20111129

[Mistral75]

A lire également :

"Olympus denies camera division shake-up threat - Plans announced by Olympus to review its future 'focus' do not mean it is considering selling off its camera division, according to an official for the scandal-hit firm."

L'article : http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/does_olympus_shakeup_threaten_camera_division_update_news_310595.html

[Glouglou]

Quand une entreprise recentre son activité ce n'est jamais sur la partie la moins rentable ... Au mieux cette partie est cédée (le cas de Leica  Photo) et peux survivre ou pas, au pire elle est abandonnée si personne n'en veux (le cas de Contax pour Kyocera) avec la vente de ce qui peut l'être (brevets, outil industriel).

[GéGé73]

Soit Panasonic rachète la division photo d'Olympus pour récupérer la connaissance en optique
Soit c'est foutu,
Mais pour ceux qui comme moi ne sont interressé que par les Reflex et le plaisir qu'il donne c'était déjà largement cuit
Enfin dommage pour nos investissement mais il y a d'autres problèmes sur terre (la crise est aiileurs)

Bonne journée à tous et bonnes photos en Olympus ou autre d'un possesseur E3 qui n'investit plus

[Mistral75]

Former CEO Woodford quits Olympus board to call for new management

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/12/01/WoodfordleavesOlympusboard

Un extrait :

"Possible restructuring

In a board meeting last week attended by Woodford, the company agreed to start reviews of its corporate governance (to prevent such actions being taken again and to provide reassurance to investors) and on restructuring the business. Investment analysts have speculated that this second review could result in parts of the business being sold off to protect its core value. The company is currently dominated by its profitable 'Medical Systems' endoscopy business that makes up 42% of the company's value. The loss-making 'Imaging Systems' camera division makes up around 16% of the company, making it the third-largest segment."

[Mistral75]

Olympus ex-CEO campaigns to oust board - The former chief executive of disgraced Olympus Corp, Michael Woodford, launched a campaign on Thursday to oust the board of directors, reclaim his old job and bring in his own team to save the Japanese firm from a big accounting scandal.

(...)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/01/us-olympus-woodford-idUSTRE7AT30E20111201

[Mistral75]

Woodford Seeks Shareholder Support to Take Over Olympus With New Directors

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/olympus-whistle-blower-woodford-quits-board-after-revealing-payment-scheme.html

[Goblin]

Why am I not surprised... 

[Chris59]

Les pertes cachées chez Olympus dépasseraient le milliard d'euros...

http://www.lemonde.fr/japon/article/2011/12/06/les-pertes-cachees-chez-olympus-depasseraient-le-milliard-d-euros_1613721_1492975.html#xtor=RSS-3208