Toshiba said it will drop two existing directors from its board as major shareholders demanded accountability after a probe showed unfair practices in last year’s selection process.
The conglomerate will not put forward the names of Junji Ota and Takashi Yamauchi for another term, it said in a statement after a special meeting on Sunday. It also will not reappoint executive officers Masayasu Toyohara and Masaharu Kamo, the company said.
An independent probe showed Toshiba sought government help in an attempt to influence a key shareholder vote that installed its slate of directors. The company “devised a plan to effectively prevent shareholders” from exercising their rights at a July 2020 meeting, working with Japan’s trade ministry to counter activist investors, according to the 139-page report released last week and overseen by three lawyers.
“We are taking points made by the lawyers seriously and committed to find out, with help from outsiders, and report what happened promptly with as much transparency as we can,” Toshiba said. It will hold a press conference on Monday.
The company’s shares rose just more than 2 per cent on Monday in Tokyo trading.
Advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended a vote against Mr Ota, Mr Yamauchi and three other Toshiba board members following the probe, namely Osamu Nagayama, Nobuyuki Kobayashi and Ayako Hirota Weissman, according to a statement, reiterating the findings of the investigation that showed that the July 2020 shareholder meeting “was not fairly managed”.
Toshiba worked in unison with the ministry to exert pressure on 3D Investment Partners, now its third-largest shareholder, which impacted its voting decisions, and to influence how Harvard University’s endowment fund would vote.
Four outside directors at Toshiba – Jerome Thomas Black, Paul Brough, George Raymond Zage and Weissman – put out a separate statement in support of the shift in board nominees.
“These changes, we believe, together with further steps to be taken in future, are an important step in moving towards improved returns to shareholders and enhanced corporate governance,” they said. “We look forward to working with chairman Nagayama whom we support to lead the board’s efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for stakeholders, including shareholders.”
3D Investment Partners demanded the resignation of Mr Nagayama and three directors, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a letter from the shareholder. It didn’t name the three directors.
The independent probe also details how then-chief executive Nobuaki Kurumatani met with Yoshihide Suga, at the time the chief cabinet secretary and now the prime minister of Japan, ahead of the annual general meting to explain the situation in person.
On another occasion, senior Toshiba executive Mr Kamo met Mr Suga, who the report said expressed support for “aggressive” action to use the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, recently enacted legislation designed to protect industries core to national security. Mr Suga on Thursday rejected the contents of the report.
“I know nothing of this,” Mr Suga said when asked by reporters in Tokyo about comments attributed to him in the report. “There was no such thing.”
The findings emerged from a probe proposed by Singapore-based Effissimo Capital Management – Toshiba’s largest shareholder – and approved in March. The standoff between the secretive fund and one of the country’s most storied conglomerates has become a litmus test for Japan Inc and corporate governance across the world’s third-largest economy.
At a briefing in Tokyo on Friday, Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama denied that he had asked a former senior adviser, Hiromichi Mizuno, to get involved with Toshiba, although he said Mr Mizuno had given advice on occasion. Mr Kajiyama said the panel’s report didn’t shed definitive light on what happened, but didn’t rule out the possibility that the ministry will start its own investigation into the findings.
The four external board members of Toshiba’s board called the report “deeply disturbing”, and said change was needed in both the board and management.
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Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
