The Advisors' Blog

– Broc Romanek

Yes, you can get caught for not disclosing perks – and deferred comp – in other countries. Here’s the intro from this WSJ article:

Nissan Motor said it has uncovered numerous significant acts of misconduct by Carlos Ghosn and intends to oust him as chairman. Nissan released a statement Monday about Mr. Ghosn amid news reports in Japan that he was about to be arrested. Nissan said its investigation had been going on for several months.

It said Mr. Ghosn has been reporting compensation amounts in securities reports that were less than the actual amount. Nissan said that in regards to Mr. Ghosn, “numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets.” Mr. Ghosn wasn’t immediately available for comment.

The Japanese news reports said Mr. Ghosn was being interrogated on charges that he understated his income, causing the company to file allegedly false reports to Japanese securities regulators. Mr. Ghosn is also chief executive of French car maker Renault SA and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. Renault shares fell 13% in European trading on the news, which came out after the close of trading in Tokyo.

Here’s an article showing that the top-paid executives in Japan weren’t in fact Japanese, but rather mostly Westerners. Japanese companies tend to pay CEOs less, partly because of cultural ‘modesty’ norms. But this CNN report details how Japan’s corporate culture allows corruption to thrive…