Ghosn suspected of transferring private losses to Nissan, sources said



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TOKYO – It is feared that Nissan president Carlos Ghosn has transferred more than a billion yen of losses into private financial transactions to the company in 2008, sources told Nikkei.

The Japanese Securities and Exchange Commission was aware of the incident and raised the issue at the time.

According to people familiar with the matter, Ghosn has managed part of its private funds in currency derivatives transactions. During the 2008 financial crisis, the yen is highly appreciated, resulting in losses of more than one billion yen for assets.

When Ghosn's bank raised the issue of its lack of collateral, the manager suggested leaving all the derivatives rights, including the losses suffered by the builder.

Initially, the bank requested that the decision be forwarded to the board of directors of the company, but then probably accepted the transfer without the consent of the board of directors, at Ghosn's request.

The SESC uncovered the incident during routine inspections and indicated that such actions could lead to compliance issues.

Also on Tuesday, sources said Nissan Motor had prepared documents promising deferred compensation in Ghosn every year.

If prosecutors had concluded that the future payment amounts were decided upon the compilation of the documents, Nissan would have been asked to include them in the annual financial statements.

Ghosn, 64, suspected of under-reporting salary, had recently been arrested and would have set his annual compensation at around 2 billion yen ($ 17 million), about half of which will be received in the future.

Deferred payments for the eight years prior to March 31, 2018 are estimated at 8 billion yen.

According to sources, Ghosn and his former manager, 62-year-old Greg Kelly, who had also been arrested, had collected documents indicating amounts to be deferred, while Nissan had committed to making payments after Ghosn's retirement .

In addition to Ghosn and Kelly, only a small number of close aides were aware of the deferred payment mechanism and the existence of documents, the sources said.

The documents did not include details about payment dates or reasons for future remuneration, but it might have been expected that Ghosn would receive the money in categories such as consulting fees after the payment. retirement, added the sources.

Japanese law requires companies to appoint directors who earn at least 100 million yen a year and the amount of compensation in securities reports. Companies must also report payments made during the fiscal year, even if they must be paid at a later date.

Prosecutors may consider the documents to be evidence that Ghosn's remuneration had been fixed. Nissan was therefore required to quote the full amount in its reports.

Ghosn and Kelly both denied the charges, claiming that the amounts of the payments had not been fixed and that they had been adequately reported.

Nissan has been conducting an internal investigation since June, after a whistleblower and auditors raised the issue of Mr. Ghosn's compensation treatment and the alleged misuse of investment funds. . Nissan found documents that Ghosn had compiled himself during the process.

Nissan leaders from Japan and abroad have agreed to negotiate a plea. Nissan also cooperated with the investigation by submitting documents on deferred payments from Mr. Ghosn to the attorneys.

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