Japan Exchange Gives First Red Card With Keiozu to Get Delisted
For the first time since starting a new watch-list system in 2007, the Tokyo bourse has handed out its ultimate punishment.
Japan Exchange Group Inc. will delist Keiozu Holdings Co. this month for failing to stamp out trangressions including inappropriate use of funds. The company, which sells mobile phones and runs call centers, becomes the first designated as a security on alert to meet this fate. While 27 other stocks have been or are on the list, even Olympus Corp. got away without expulsion despite admitting a $1.7 billion accounting fraud.
For SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Ltd., delisting should be the last resort because it penalizes shareholders for the misdeeds of management. Others say the bourse should never shy away from throwing out rule-breakers, as the integrity of the equity market must come first.