The Tokyo District Court approved on December 26th 2016 an in-court settlement between the clients of Deminor and Olympus Corporation.
A group of more than 60 institutional investors, advised as to strategic and financial matters by Deminor, initiated legal action against Olympus Corporation before the Tokyo District Court in December 2012. The plaintiffs sought damages for the losses suffered following the revelation in 2011 of a decade-long fraudulent scheme at Olympus Corporation. The stock price lost more than half of its value following the announcement of accounting irregularities.
After four years of hard-fought litigation, the plaintiffs will recover 45% of their recoverable losses for which they claimed compensation in the lawsuit; this settlement will be, upon payment, the highest recovery thus far achieved by non-Japanese investors, relative to the amount of their claims, in any of the lawsuits settled so far by Olympus.
This result proves that determination and active litigation pay off, as Deminor’s clients were able to settle at a significant premium towards other investors. Edouard Fremault, partner in charge: “This in-court settlement reflects not only the strengths of the case but foremost the fact that we went through every step of a fully-fledged litigation to create as much value as possible for the plaintiffs. We are grateful to our clients who trusted and supported us throughout the entire litigation and made this unprecedented achievement possible”.
As to matters of Japanese law, the plaintiffs were advised, and represented in court, solely by the Japanese law firm Atsumi & Sakai, which was engaged to do so by the investors’ Belgian counsel, CMS DeBacker. Bryan Cave LLP advised on certain aspects of US and English laws. Forensic Risk Alliance acted as economic advisers.
For further information, please contact Edouard Fremault (edouard.fremault@deminor.com / + 32 2 674 71 33).
