Wrapup 1: Japan says ready to work for stability of Nissan-Renault alliance
21/11/2018 05:12
* Prosecutors weighing case against Nissan -Asahi
* Chairman Ghosn arrested on Monday
* Nissan shares up 0.8 pct after falling nearly 6 pct day
earlier
(Wraps up stories on government comment, Asahi report; updates
share price)
TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Japan said on Wednesday it is
ready to work for the stability of the Nissan-Renault global
alliance following the stunning arrest of common Chairman Carlos
Ghosn, as the Asahi newspaper reported prosecutors are weighing
bringing a case against the Japanese automaker.
Nissan Motor Co 7201.T has portrayed itself as a victim of
Ghosn, one of the global car industry's best-known leaders, who
it accused of years of wrongdoing, including personal use of
company money and under-reporting earnings. It plans to remove
him from post on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XU3KO
Japanese prosecutors arrested Ghosn on Monday, saying he and
Representative Director Greg Kelly conspired to understate
Ghosn's compensation at Nissan over five years starting in
fiscal 2010 as being about half of the actual 10 billion yen
($88.65 million).
The Asahi quoted unnamed sources as saying that the
mis-stating meant Nissan also bore responsibility and that
prosecutors were eyeing the possibility of putting together a
case against it.
Prosecutors were not immediately able to comment. Nissan
declined to comment on the report. Ghosn and Kelly, who has also
been arrested, have not commented on the accusations so far and
Reuters has not been able to reach them.
Ghosn has bestrode the alliance as chairman and chief
executive of Nissan's French partner Renault RENA.PA , and
chairman of third partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp 7211.T .
The alliance "is a symbol of Franco-Japanese industrial
success and we will continue to support it," Japan's top
government spokesman said on Wednesday, calling for a "stable
relationship" between the three automakers. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XW1K0
Japan's Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday that Ghosn
had received share price-linked compensation of about 4 billion
yen over a five-year period to March 2015 but that it went
unreported in Nissan's financial reports.
Renault on Tuesday tapped its chief operating officer and a
senior board member to fill in for Ghosn, but the board
refrained from firing him while waiting for details on the
allegations - a decision that could buy more time for an
accelerated, permanent succession process. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1XV3FU
Shares in Nissan rose 0.8 percent on Wednesday after falling
nearly 6 percent a day earlier. Mitsubishi Motors was down 0.6
percent after losing nearly 7 percent on Tuesday.
($1 = 112.8000 yen)
(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Sam Nussey; Additional reporting
by Mayuko Ono; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com))