Japanese industrial conglomerate
The lawyers said in a report that Toshiba sought assistance from the government in an effort to block proposals from foreign activist investors, taking advantage of a revised domestic law designed to protect national security.
Toshiba has faced off with foreign activist shareholders like
Questions about the
Toshiba planned to "prevent" investors such as Effissimo from exercising their rights to make proposals and vote in the general shareholders' meeting in
"We judge that the shareholders' meeting was not run in a fair manner," the lawyers said in the over 100-page report.
The influence of foreign investors has grown in recent years as Toshiba has accepted investment from abroad to overcome its financial struggles.
Effissimo, a major shareholder with an over 10 percent stake in Toshiba, submitted a proposal for the appointment of three outside directors but it did not secure approval at the general shareholders' meeting.
Leading up to the meeting, Toshiba, in cooperation with the industry ministry, urged Effissimo to drop the proposal -- a potentially illegal act.
The Japanese company's actions "directly or indirectly had an undue influence on shareholders," the lawyers said.
According to the report, it is "presumed" that then Toshiba CEO
Kurumatani implicitly admitted that he had attended the breakfast but said in an interview conducted by the lawyers that he had no recollection of a "position document" compiled by a Toshiba executive, the report said.
The document stated that urgent and strong government support was required to ensure that the revised Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law was applied effectively
At the general shareholders' meeting last year, support for Kurumatani dwindled to 57.96 percent from 99.43 percent a year earlier.
Toshiba said in a statement in English it "will carefully review this investigation report and plans to announce its comments towards this investigation result at a later date."
Toshiba is among the Japanese companies viewed as important on national security grounds as the conglomerate's businesses include defense equipment, infrastructure and nuclear power.
The revised law is aimed at limiting foreign investment to protect national security.
The probe was conducted after the approval at an extraordinary meeting in March of a proposal by Effissimo calling for a fresh investigation into whether the
The development was seen as a rare victory for shareholder activism.
Kurumatani abruptly stepped down in April amid a management rift over a proposal by British private equity firm
The plan, seen as an attempt to shield Toshiba from growing activist shareholder pressure, sparked speculation that Kurumatani, who previously served as head of CVC's
Toshiba's general shareholders' meeting is slated for
==Kyodo
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