ID :
52426
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 22:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/52426
The shortlink copeid
Vice MOF chief Hirata quits over shady stock trading
+
TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo -
Senior Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hirata resigned from his post Thursday
following the revelation of shady stock sales earlier this month, dealing a
fresh blow to the already frail administration of Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Hirata earlier conveyed his intention to step down to the prime minister via
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano. The premier told reporters he accepted the
resignation offered by Hirata, an LDP House of Representatives member, and that
he ''feels responsible for appointing'' Hirata as a Cabinet member.
The move came shortly after his March 2 sale of a massive portion of stocks of
a plasterboard maker via off-market trading drew fire. His conduct infringed on
a ban on stock trading under the ethics code for politically appointed
ministers.
The vice minister told a press conference he initially did not intend to step
down, but changed his mind after the opposition bloc refused to deliberate on
fiscal 2009 budget while he stays on.
''I decided to quit because if budget deliberations stop at the Diet, it would
cause trouble to the general public,'' Hirata told the news conference.
However, the vice minister said he has ''no sense of guilt at all'' for the
stock trading, because he did not gain any personal profit.
His resignation came about a month after then Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa
quit over what appeared to be drunken behavior at an international news
conference. Aso is not planning to immediately appoint Hirata's successor
because Wataru Takeshita has been serving as the other senior vice finance
minister.
Hirata said he personally believes his resignation will not hurt Aso's support
base very much.
The 60-year-old vice minister sold stock amounting to 8.68 percent of the total
outstanding shares of Chiyoda Ute Co. based in Yokkaichi in central Japan's Mie
Prefecture for 550 yen per share, a price nearly double its market value, to
Zero System on March 2.
Zero System, a privately held firm also located in Yokkaichi, is a petroleum
product sales company of which Hirata has 90 percent stakes. Chiyoda Ute,
founded by Hirata's father, is listed on the Jasdaq stock market for start-ups.
The ethics code requires politically appointed ministers and senior vice
ministers to put stocks, if they hold any, in a trust and to refrain from stock
transactions while in office. The code has no penalties.
Hirata said he earlier conveyed his intention to the Cabinet Secretariat to
eventually sell Chiyoda Ute shares at the request of Zero System, and received
a warning from the secretariat that such a transaction could violate the code.
The vice minister said he thinks his stock sale is a ''borderline case'' and
that he is not sure whether the transaction was truly to blame.
According to a report on major stock holdings submitted to the Finance
Ministry's Tokai Local Finance Bureau, Hirata sold 1.12 million Chiyoda Ute
shares at 550 yen each, for a total of 616 million yen.
Chiyoda Ute stock closed at 290 yen per share on the Jasdaq market on Feb. 27,
immediately before his stock sale.
Hirata maintained that the original purchase prices of Chiyoda Ute stocks were
much higher than 550 yen per share.
As Hirata controls most of the stakes in Zero System, he thought the
transaction would be tantamount to nominally changing the holder of Chiyoda Ute
shares from himself to the fuel sales company.
He said it was impossible to sell the stock in the usually thin Jasdaq market
trading because it would ''trigger confusion.''
Hirosuke Noro, president of Zero System, said the firm had been asking Hirata
to sell Chiyoda Ute shares for several years in a bid to bolster its ties with
the plasterboard maker, to which his company provides fuel.
Noro said the sales price of the shares held by Hirata was set after consulting
with a certified public accountant and that the firm has yet to pay for the
stock.
Hirata was elected from the Tokai regional bloc under the proportional
representation system.
He served as president of Chiyoda Ute between 1988 and 1995. The company,
located in his constituency, is now headed by his brother.
Hirata was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1995 and won a lower
house seat in 2003. He is currently serving his second term as a lower chamber
member.
==Kyodo
2009-03-26 23:12:54
TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo -
Senior Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hirata resigned from his post Thursday
following the revelation of shady stock sales earlier this month, dealing a
fresh blow to the already frail administration of Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Hirata earlier conveyed his intention to step down to the prime minister via
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano. The premier told reporters he accepted the
resignation offered by Hirata, an LDP House of Representatives member, and that
he ''feels responsible for appointing'' Hirata as a Cabinet member.
The move came shortly after his March 2 sale of a massive portion of stocks of
a plasterboard maker via off-market trading drew fire. His conduct infringed on
a ban on stock trading under the ethics code for politically appointed
ministers.
The vice minister told a press conference he initially did not intend to step
down, but changed his mind after the opposition bloc refused to deliberate on
fiscal 2009 budget while he stays on.
''I decided to quit because if budget deliberations stop at the Diet, it would
cause trouble to the general public,'' Hirata told the news conference.
However, the vice minister said he has ''no sense of guilt at all'' for the
stock trading, because he did not gain any personal profit.
His resignation came about a month after then Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa
quit over what appeared to be drunken behavior at an international news
conference. Aso is not planning to immediately appoint Hirata's successor
because Wataru Takeshita has been serving as the other senior vice finance
minister.
Hirata said he personally believes his resignation will not hurt Aso's support
base very much.
The 60-year-old vice minister sold stock amounting to 8.68 percent of the total
outstanding shares of Chiyoda Ute Co. based in Yokkaichi in central Japan's Mie
Prefecture for 550 yen per share, a price nearly double its market value, to
Zero System on March 2.
Zero System, a privately held firm also located in Yokkaichi, is a petroleum
product sales company of which Hirata has 90 percent stakes. Chiyoda Ute,
founded by Hirata's father, is listed on the Jasdaq stock market for start-ups.
The ethics code requires politically appointed ministers and senior vice
ministers to put stocks, if they hold any, in a trust and to refrain from stock
transactions while in office. The code has no penalties.
Hirata said he earlier conveyed his intention to the Cabinet Secretariat to
eventually sell Chiyoda Ute shares at the request of Zero System, and received
a warning from the secretariat that such a transaction could violate the code.
The vice minister said he thinks his stock sale is a ''borderline case'' and
that he is not sure whether the transaction was truly to blame.
According to a report on major stock holdings submitted to the Finance
Ministry's Tokai Local Finance Bureau, Hirata sold 1.12 million Chiyoda Ute
shares at 550 yen each, for a total of 616 million yen.
Chiyoda Ute stock closed at 290 yen per share on the Jasdaq market on Feb. 27,
immediately before his stock sale.
Hirata maintained that the original purchase prices of Chiyoda Ute stocks were
much higher than 550 yen per share.
As Hirata controls most of the stakes in Zero System, he thought the
transaction would be tantamount to nominally changing the holder of Chiyoda Ute
shares from himself to the fuel sales company.
He said it was impossible to sell the stock in the usually thin Jasdaq market
trading because it would ''trigger confusion.''
Hirosuke Noro, president of Zero System, said the firm had been asking Hirata
to sell Chiyoda Ute shares for several years in a bid to bolster its ties with
the plasterboard maker, to which his company provides fuel.
Noro said the sales price of the shares held by Hirata was set after consulting
with a certified public accountant and that the firm has yet to pay for the
stock.
Hirata was elected from the Tokai regional bloc under the proportional
representation system.
He served as president of Chiyoda Ute between 1988 and 1995. The company,
located in his constituency, is now headed by his brother.
Hirata was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1995 and won a lower
house seat in 2003. He is currently serving his second term as a lower chamber
member.
==Kyodo
2009-03-26 23:12:54
