Deminor Recovery Services/Olympus

Challenge

Olympus, a Japan-based manufacturer of cameras and medical equipment, was found to have hidden $1.7 billion worth of losses since the early 1990s. In what was one of the biggest loss-concealing financial scandals in the history of corporate Japan, the company’s stock market valuation was wiped by around 80% in under a month in 2011, leading to investigations across the UK, the US and Japan. FRA was retained by Deminor Recovery Services, who were acting on behalf of more than 60 institutional investors who had been defrauded by Olympus’s actions.

Action

FRA acted as economic adviser to Deminor in their legal action against Olympus Corporation and produced an expert report on the impact of the fraud on the company’s share price before and after disclosure.

Solution

In 2016, after four years of litigation, the Tokyo District Court approved an in-court settlement allowing the plaintiffs to recover 45% of their recoverable losses for which they claimed compensation in the lawsuit. This settlement was to be, upon payment, the highest recovery achieved by non-Japanese investors, relative to the amount of their claims, in any of the lawsuits settled so far by Olympus at the time (source: Deminor).