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Michael Woodford, the former CEO of Olympus Cameras, appears to be in a very strong position, following his return to Japan.
Their are numerous articles with the one from the Financial Times giving the most succinct update on what has been happening. Hollywood return for Olympus man driven out of Dodge
Mr Woodford's whistleblowing efforts really appear to have achieved some traction. However, I feel that we are all still at the beginning of this story.
As the FT article states:
"Although Olympus has admitted wrongdoing, many mysteries remain, including the size and origin of the investment losses it says it covered up and the role of outside financiers in the deception – as well as how much its enablers were paid for their help."
Let us not forget that from an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) point of view, Olympus would have been regarded as a low risk of money laundering ( publicly listed on an international stock exchange), assisted by very well respected international advisers and financial institutions, (who may have been complicit, or asleep at the wheel or totally innocent) and loaded with seemingly legitimately earned cash.
I wonder, how many firms declined business opportunities with Olympus after 2008 on a risk based approach? How many AML experts sent up a warning flag after this disclosure started? How many firms blamed their AML departments for failing to see this coming?
Oh and by the way, before we get carried away by the Hollywood analogy and the possibility of the whistleblower winning, check out the third reference article in the list below.
Watch this space.
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