Smbc Nikko Securities To Punish Execs Over Market Manipulation Case
Japanese brokerage SMBC Nikko Securities says it plans to cut the pay of its top executives. The move is connected to the firm's stock manipulation case, which prompted the Financial Services Agency to issue a partial business suspension order.
The firm announced on Friday that President Kondo Yuichiro will receive no compensation for six months.
It said Chairman Kawasaki Yasuyuki's monthly pay will be cut by 50 percent during the same period. It added that six other executives will receive smaller pay cuts.
The firm says it is also asking four retired executives to voluntarily return part of the compensation that they received. A former president is among those executives.
The disciplinary actions come after the country's financial watchdog ordered the brokerage to suspend part of its stock-trading operation for three months. The watchdog also instructed the firm to improve the way it supervises and manages stock trades.
The watchdog took the action after a vice president, five senior employees and the firm itself were indicted for illegally purchasing specific stocks in bulk in April 2021 to prevent the prices from falling.
SMBC Nikko Securities' parent company, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, also announced that six of its executives will receive pay cuts. It said Director President Ohta Jun's pay will be slashed by 30 percent for six months.
Another group unit, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, says its president and three others will take responsibility for illegally sharing information about corporate buyouts with SMBC Nikko Securities by accepting reductions in their pay.