Olympus directors hand in resignation letters

All 11 directors of trouble-hit Olympus have today officially submitted resignation letters, announcing their intention to quit after an extraordinary shareholders? meeting on 20 April.

In an official statement ? now on the Olympus website ? the company also confirmed its plan to appoint Hiroyuki Sasa as new president, and Yasuyuki Kimoto as chairman.

Kimoto is a former senior managing director of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, a lender reported to be one of Olympus?s main creditors.

One full-time, and two part-time, corporate auditors have also penned resignation letters.

Meanwhile, investigations continue into alleged wrongdoing at Olympus after seven men were arrested on 16 February.

In an interview with Amateur Photographer (AP) earlier this month, former CEO Michael Woodford ? who blew the whistle on the £1.1 billion cover up ? made clear his plans to ensure all existing directors step aside at the 20 April meeting in Tokyo.

He told AP: ‘I want to be there and, obviously, I have a platform and a voice,’ he told AP.

?I want to make sure it [Olympus] is purged of all of them and that the future does not damage the thousands of people, exceptional people, some of the best people [in the camera business].’

In January, Olympus filed lawsuits against 19 current and former directors in connection with the accounting scandal.

At the time, Olympus pledged that all directors named in the lawsuits ‘will step down, regardless of their personal views or claims in court, in a timely manner that does not interfere with the management of Olympus’.

CLICK HERE FOR EXCLUSIVE AP INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL WOODFORD, FEBRUARY 2012

CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO STORIES ABOUT OLYMPUS SCANDAL