Japanese regulators probing European banks over Olympus scandal

Japanese authorities are probing any of the European banks’ possible involvement in camera maker Olympus’ cover-up scandal involving $1.3 billion in losses since 1990s, a person familiar with the matter said.

According to the unnamed person, who claims to have detailed information about the government’s ongoing investigation, regulators have launched the investigation to determine if managers handling Olympus’s accounts at various European banks issued misleading statements of the Olympus’ accounts.

Regulators also want to determine if the possibly misleading statements provided by European banks were used by the camera maker to generate financial statements that concealed the company’s true health.

However, the person declined to reveal the names of the European banks as investigations were still ongoing.

Tokyo-based Olympus, which produces endoscope and digital cameras, admitted earlier this month that it concealed investment losses for more than two decades as part of a cover-up.

Regulators believe that it would not be possible for Olympus to cover-up losses for so long without outside help from outside banks that handle the company’s accounts.

Three top executives implicated in the scandal have so far quitted Olympus, pushing the company a step closer to its possible delisting from the Tokyo stock exchange.

Olympus is yet to announce details of the investment losses, but local media reported that the figure might total more than 100 billion yen, or $1.3 billion.