Japan’s AIJ loses $1.3bn with bad bets
Tokyo-based AIJ Investment Advisors lost $1.3bn (£819.2m) in bad bets on equity and bond derivatives, losing the bulk of the pension funds it was managing, Japan’s financial regulator said on Friday after stripping the firm of its registration.
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) said AIJ, whose offices were earlier raided by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, was unable to account for most of the $2.4bnassets under its management and had falsified its report to investors to cover up its losses in one of the biggest scandals of its kind in Japan.
“The SESC has started a compulsory investigation today,” Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi told a news conference. “We regret that there was a serious falsehood in (AIJ’s) business report.”