Following is the gist of remarks made by Mr. Hiroshi Okuda, Chairman of Nippon Keidanren, at an ad-hoc press conference on 15 October 2002 on the issue of corporate misconduct. Translation is rush and tentative, and sequence of the gist does not necessarily coincide with words delivered.
(on revised Charter for Good Corporate Behavior)
Measures to prevent recurrence of corporate misconducts were approved and adopted at today's Board of Directors' meeting. I deeply regret to find many everyday and consumer confidence on the Japan's business as the whole is being lost as the result.
The main point of the revised Charter for Good Corporate Behavior, forming core of the approved measures, is to emphasize roles and responsibilities of corporate executives. In most of the misconduct cases we observed, attitude of companies involved were insufficient and regrettable. Executives must get grips of all company operations -- they shall not spare efforts. It is of absolute necessity that executives must align corporate structure so that they know all corporate information quickly, be it good or bad. Nippon Keidanren created a guide, but actual corporate realignment and implementation is up to each member company.
(asked how to punish and to re-install full membership after rectification is made)
Committee on Corporate Behavior shall collect necessary information, and I will make decision, as a concurrent Committee chair, based on available information. If companies already in trouble re-commit or other companies commit similar misconducts, I assume they will face heavier penalties based on the revised Charter.
[ The revised Charter in Japanese is available on the web -- English translation will soon be available ]