Japanese officials had labelled Olympus shares as ‘securities on alert’ since 21 January 2012 because the firm was ‘deemed an entity that had a substantial need for improvements in its internal control system etc… related to past activities regarding deferral in posting of losses‘.
The move comes nearly five months after Olympus submitted a ‘written affirmation’ of its revised internal control systems to the TSE.
Olympus says it received confirmation of the removal of the designation on Monday because ‘TSE had found no problem in the internal control system of the company’.
In response to the TSE’s decision, Olympus Japan said in a statement: ‘Since [21 January 2012] the company has worked on restructuring the internal control system on a group-wide basis and promoted drastic reforms to restore trust.’
The Tokyo-based firm added: ‘We will keep developing and reinforcing our internal control system as well as striving in a group-wide effort to improve business performance and restore trust…’
Meanwhile, Japanese police are reported to have arrested three businessmen on suspicion of receiving bribes in exchange for covering up Olympus losses as part of the scandal, which was exposed in 2011.
The men had already been indicted by the Tokyo District Court for releasing false financial statements, according to the Japan Daily Press which named the arrested men as Nobumasa Yokoo, 59; Taku Hada, 50; and Hisashi Ono, 51.
