Olympus: Michael Woodford’s Goodwill Hunting

UPDATED: Disgraced Japanese company Olympus must file a quarterly financial report tonight or risk being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The camera maker today filed corrected earnings reports for the past five financial years, but has yet to file the July-September 2011 results that are required. Last month, the 92-year-old company admitted to hiding billions of dollars in losses on securities investments over the past decade. The scandal first came to light when former chief executive Michael Woodford was fired earlier this year after blowing the whistle on the dodgy accounting. Woodford, who returned to Tokyo yesterday to campaign to get his job back, is urging current Olympus board members to step down.

“Please show some dignity now, think of the company,” Woodford said, ”I think the damage which is being done can be repaired.”

Mr Woodford appeared to take a more conciliatory stance toward Olympus management, saying he wanted to avoid a proxy war to win shareholder support to sack current executives.

“And if it’s done in the right way, and the prosecutor and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police show to the world that the thing is being dealt with, I think ironically, good could come out of it.” Woodford said Read the full article »»»»