A former Deutsche Bank salesman, Shigeru Echigo, has admitted to bribery charges in Tokyo, but Shigeru Echigo, 37, stated that he was only following his bosses’ instructions. According to a report by Bloomberg News, Shigeru Echigo was acting on instructions from his managers, as authorities push brokerages to be more judicious in entertaining the clients. He is accused of bribing a pension fund executive so that he would continue purchasing investment products.
Prosecutors said that Shigeru Echigo spent around 900,000 yen ($8,800) while entertaining the client on 15 occasions between April to September 2012. The charges relate to meals and golf outings with the clients. A Tokyo Metropolitan Police official said in a statement read out over the telephone that, the former head of Deutsche Securities’ pension fund sales team, was arrested on bribery charges along with a former pension fund manager for a Japanese trading house, according to the New York Times.
A professor of economics and international finance at the Seikei University in Tokyo, Mamoru Nagano, said that “This case has sent a strong message that banks and brokerages must be more careful when they entertain clients.” Nagano commented that according to Bloomberg News, “Authorities globally have been tightening up oversight of the banking industry since the financial crisis to make sure that transactions comply with the law.”
If he is convicted by a panel led by Chief Judge Akira Ando, Shigeru Echigo will face as long as three years in prison or a maximum fine of 2.5 million yen. A Tokyo-based spokesman for Deutsche securities, Takayuki Inoue, has declined to comment on the story. The Frankfurt-based lender, Deutsche Bank has also declined to comment on the case, according to Bloomberg News.
According to the Financial Times, entertaining public officials is strictly off-limits, as set out by the National Public Service Ethics Act of 1999. The law was drawn up after it emerged that some bankers were taking finance-ministry bureaucrats to expensive restaurants and strip clubs, in return for tip-offs ahead of government inspections. If you would like more information about employment opportunities with Deutsche Bank readers can click here.
Image Credit: www.ibtimes.co.uk