An independent board committee has concluded that Nidec founder Shigenobu Nagamori fostered a corporate culture that led to losses being improperly deferred and misrepresented in the electric-motor maker’s earnings, deepening a financial scandal that has already wiped years of value off the company’s stock.
The redacted report, released Tuesday, found that Nagamori and several other current and former executives are potentially liable for civil damages tied to the accounting failures, with Nidec saying it will consider pursuing legal action against them once it completes a restatement of its financial results.
Beyond Nagamori, the report also named former chief executives Jun Seki and Mitsuya Kishida, former chairman Hiroshi Kobe, and former president Jitoyuki Yoshimoto as bearing responsibility for the accounting lapses.
Nidec shares fell to their lowest level in a decade following the committee's findings, extending a selloff that began as the scope of the accounting problems first came to light and investors priced in the risk of a prolonged restatement process.
The findings mark a significant reputational blow for Nagamori, who built Nidec from a small startup into one of the world's largest manufacturers of electric motors and has long been closely associated with the company's identity and governance culture.
Nidec's next steps, including the scope of any legal action against its own founder and former leadership, are likely to shape investor confidence in the company's governance reforms as it works to complete its restated financials and move past the scandal.
