[Zig]

A month after some bloke at Olympus(UK?) was fired, I hear a top Japanese bloke has fallen/was pushed today, resigning as a result of allegedly having his fingers where they shouldn't have been. Whoopsadaisy then.

[Toad]

A very succinct analysis, Zig. Have you considered working for CNN as a business reporter?

[Zig]

Haha!
Ah, you caught me in a rare moment of button-lipped reticence, I confess.

[shuttertalk]

Haha, nice one Toad...

I was actually reading about this the other day - the CEO was fired after asking too many questions about a dodgy financial dealing. Apparently they hired some financial advisors to consult on some acquisitions, and paid them a % based on the acquisition cost. Something small like 1%. Bit ironic that they can't seem to do their maths too well - the acquisition costs were 773 million but they ended up getting 687 million in cash and shares.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1110/111018...ostory.asp
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pd...r-text.pdf

[shuttertalk]

Wow, looks like there have been arrests made over this:

Japanese police and prosecutors have arrested seven men, including the former president of Olympus Corp and ex-bankers over a $1.7 billion accounting fraud -- one of the country's biggest corporate scandals.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/1...2120120216

Wow - the last line in the article - "Shares in Olympus, currently worth around $4.5 billion, have halved in value since the scandal unfolded."

[Zig]

See? News before it breaks, here on ST...!

[shuttertalk]

More news on this - looks like the huge financial impact of the scandal is driving Olympus to pare down its unprofitable digital camera business, to return it to profitability.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120404a4.html

Scandal-hit Olympus Corp. will reduce its lineup of digital camera products in an effort to return its loss-making camera division to profitability, said Hiroyuki Sasa, who is expected to become the firm's next president.

"We would like to narrow down our portfolio," he said, suggesting the possibility of withdrawing some types of inexpensive compact digital cameras amid intense price competition."