Toshiba has decided to retire four outside directors in charge of the audit committee after receiving a report that the operation of the general meeting of shareholders was not fair last year.
While the challenge is to restore the trust of shareholders, such as the so-called “shareholders who say things,” it was an unusual response to change personnel matters just before the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for 25th of this month.
An outside lawyer appointed as a shareholder over Toshiba's shareholders' meeting last year said in a report released on the 10th of this month that the company and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry are unfairly working together to prevent the proposal of the investment fund of the largest shareholder. He pointed out that it had an impact on some shareholders and concluded that "the general meeting was not run fairly."
In response to this, Toshiba held an extraordinary board meeting on the 13th to discuss how to respond to the report and announced its views.
According to it, "We take the report seriously, and with the participation of an outside third party, we will investigate the truth and clarify the responsibility."
In addition, in response to the fact that the Audit Committee was not fully functioning in the report, the vice president pointed out the interaction between the two outside directors in charge of the Audit Committee and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The senior managing director has decided to retire.
The four were candidates for directors and executive officers for the general meeting of shareholders on the 25th of this month, but it was an unusual situation to change their personnel cases just before they could not gain the confidence of shareholders.
On the afternoon of the 14th, Toshiba will hold a press conference with Chairman Osamu Nagayama to explain a series of measures.