SOMEBODY should give Olympus Corp a lesson on how to best say sorry. The endoscope and camera manufacturer should indeed be apologetic. It has admitted to, as a Reuters report puts it, “using unusual deals and accounting tricks to hide investment losses”. According to media reports, the amount involved can be as much as hundreds of millions of dollars.
The scandal erupted in October after former CEO Michael Woodford alleged that he had been fired by the Japanese company because he had been asking too many questions about aspects of certain acquisitions, including massive payments to financial advisers. This led to a flurry of news stories that raised the possibility that Olympus would be investigated. Naturally, investors began to dump the stock.