Olympus eyes US$1.2 billion suit

SCANDAL-TAINTED Olympus Corp. is considering suing current and former executives for compensation totaling about 90 billion yen (US$1.17 billion), while its new president is considering resigning, a source familiar with the matter said.

The endoscope maker is preparing a suit to help cover damages from a US$1.7 billion accounting fraud that has savaged the 92-year-old firm’s finances, market cap and reputation, the source said.

The suit is likely to include current executives who failed to spot the 13-year cover-up or question exorbitant advisory fees made for acquisitions, he said.

SEC changes settlement language

U.S. securities regulators said Friday that defendants can no longer settle civil cases using “neither admit nor deny” language if they have already admitted to wrongdoing in parallel criminal cases.

The policy change, announced by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami on Friday, applies only to instances where a defendant has already admitted to violating criminal laws.

It comes just over a month after a federal judge in New York rejected a proposed US$285 million settlement between the SEC and Citigroup, in part because the bank had not admitted to wrongdoing. However, in that case, no parallel criminal charges have been filed.