Tokyo Stock Exchange to Delist Livedoor
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO - The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Monday it will stop trading shares in disgraced Japanese Internet startup Livedoor next month because of alleged securities law violations, ending a listing that brought turmoil to the exchange.
The exchange will delist Livedoor Co.'s stock, which has fallen 90 percent in the last two months, from the so-called Mothers market of emerging companies on April 14, following a month on the bourse's liquidation post, the TSE said in a statement.
The announcement came after Japan's securities commission filed a criminal complaint against four former Livedoor executives and a current executive on suspicion of doctoring the company's financial report for the fiscal year to Sept. 30, 2004, in breach of the Securities and Exchange Law.
The commission alleged that the Livedoor executives were involved in window-dressing the company's pretax profit by about 5.35 billion yen ($45 million) for that fiscal year.
In addition to Livedoor founder and former president Takafumi Horie, 33, the complaint filed with the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office named former executives Ryoji Miyauchi, Fumito Okamoto and Osanari Nakamura, all 38, as well as Fumito Kumagai, 28, a current executive. Prosecutors were expected to indict the five executives on Tuesday, news reports said.
Livedoor's actions were deliberate, systemic and malicious, TSE Chairman Taizo Nishimuro told reporters late Monday at a televised news conference.
"To deliberately falsify information crucial to investor decision-making is a malicious act, and the fact that this was carried out systemically leads us to strongly suspect the company's credentials as a publicly listed company," Nishimuro said.
After the delisting, Livedoor shares won't be tradable on any exchange because Livedoor lists only in Tokyo. But investors can still receive dividends from the company and could theoretically trade shares through independently negotiated transactions, the bourse said.
Livedoor shares have plummeted by more than 90 percent since early January, when it was trading at close to 700 yen ($6). It finished at 66 yen (56 U.S. cents) on Monday, unchanged from the previous session.
A group of individual investors in Livedoor has already begun discussing how to seek compensation from the company. So far, over 1,000 investors have registered with the group, which was set up in February, according to the group's Web site.
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