The boss of Japanese bank Nomura has taken a temporary pay cut after a former employee was charged with stealing from clients, attempted murder and arson.
CEO Kentaro Okuda will voluntarily return 30% of his pay for three months, and nine other Nomura directors and executives will return between 20% and 30% of theirs over the same period.
In a statement, the bank explained that a former employee had been arrested on 30 October and charged by the Hiroshima District Public Prosecutors Office for incidents that took place in July.
The employee gave asset management advice to individual and corporate clients.
He was charged with robbery, attempted murder and arson of an inhabited building, and has since been charged.
“After we learned about the incident, we immediately began contacting the former employee’s clients and launched an investigation into other possible incidents,” it said.
“We would like to express our heartfelt sympathy and apologise to our clients who suffered because of this incident. We also apologise to all those affected by the trouble it is causing.
“We take this matter very seriously. An incident like this must never happen at a financial institution entrusted with looking after its clients’ assets.”
The employee was sacked by the bank on 4 August, and Nomura said “strict disciplinary action” had been taken against relevant managers.
The bank has also introduced more stringent measures around safeguarding clients, including managers going with employees to clients’ homes or accompanying them when they speak on the phone.
Going forward, it will “strictly manage” client visits, monitoring employees using data from company phones and dashboard cameras, it said. Employees will also have to take a block of continuous leave each year to allow the bank to detect any potential wrongdoing.
Nomura added that it will hold one-to-one meetings with all employees so they understand the “gravity of the incident”, and to allay any suspicions or doubts they have going forward. It will also reform and broaden its recruitment policies “by examining the correlation between diverse selection data and post-hire performance and compliance”.
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