A well-known Japanese fund manager acknowledged yesterday that he had engaged in insider trading in an unfolding case that is drawing intense attention in a nation where aggressive investment funds are still relatively rare.
"It's my fault, I broke the law," Yoshiaki Murakami, president of MAC Asset Management Pte fund widely known as Murakami Fund, said at a press conference yesterday in Tokyo that was broadcast nationwide. "I have signed an affidavit to that effect."
Murakami said that he may be charged with insider trading, forcing him to cede control of his US$3.6 billion investment fund.
PHOTO: AFP
Murakami rose to fame as an outspoken proponent of investor rights and free markets.
But he was widely viewed with suspicion by many among the old-guard business establishment as just being out for money and representing dubious foreign investors, and not interested in proper Japanese management practices.
Murakami denied that he intended to commit a crime when he bought a large number of Nippon Broadcasting System Inc shares with advance knowledge that Internet startup Livedoor Co would make a takeover bid for the radio network.
He said he chanced upon that information and was not fully aware that his actions may constitute insider trading.
Livedoor executives, including former president, Takafumi Horie, are embroiled in a separate criminal case, centered on falsifying is own earnings reports and those of a subsidiary. Horie was arrested earlier this year on charges of violating securities exchange regulations.
Japanese media reports said that Murakami could be arrested later yesterday.
Murakami, a 46-year-old former government bureaucrat, said he had signed a document with Tokyo prosecutors admitting wrongdoing, and he expected to be charged.
He also said he was stepping down as fund manager although his fund will continue to operate.
"I didn't intend to commit a crime," Murakami said. "I made a mistake."
The Murakami Fund bought a large stake in Nippon Broadcasting shortly before Livedoor and Fuji Television Network Inc launched a heated takeover battle for the radio broadcaster.
Livedoor had bought Nippon Broadcasting shares from other investors in off-hours trading last year, raising its stake to 35 percent from about 5.4 percent. The Murakami Fund is believed to have sold part of its stake to Livedoor, reaping hefty gains, media reports say.
The fund has recently been under media scrutiny for accumulating a 47 percent stake in major Japanese railroad company Hanshin Electric Railway Co.
Last week, a rival railroad, Hankyu Holdings Inc, offered to buy out Hanshin, apparently in reaction to fears that Hanshin will get taken over by Murakami. The ruckus over Hanshin illustrates Murakami's negative image among some in Japan's business community and the mainstream media.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique