The Tokyo Stock Exchange today hit investment bank Nomura with a 200 million yen (£1.5 million) fine over an insider dealing scandal which earlier claimed the scalp of its chief executive.
The penalty is the biggest ever levied by the TSE — but still amounts to a paltry 0.2% of Nomura’s 85 billion yen profits last year. In contrast the UK Financial Services Authority’s record fine is the £59.5 million meted out to Barclays earlier this year over Libor-fixing.
The TSE has called for better controls at Japan’s biggest brokerage, which leaked information to selected clients ahead of share offerings. Chief executive Kenichi Watanabe and other top bosses resigned earlier this year over the scandal.
Nomura has acknowledged that some employees were involved and has promised to take steps to prevent recurrences, such as reviewing internal rules and practices.
Under Japanese law, leaking inside information is not penalised as heavily as profiting from insider trading, although some are pushing for the law be revised.
