Japan Resists Audit Reforms Despite Toshiba, Olympus Scandals

Embarrassing accounting debacles at Olympus and Toshiba haven’t been enough to shake up Japan’s cozy audit world. The government has issued penalties and has pledged to improve the corporate governance of its businesses, but audit violations have continued with only voluntary new restrictions introduced.

Japan saw 60 accounting discrepancies, including inflated numbers in reports, in 2020—more than double its 24 cases in 2010, according to Tokyo Shoko Research data. Just last month, Japan Display Inc., parts supplier for Apple Inc., was hit with 2.16 billion yen ($19.8 million) in administrative fines for overstating profits from 2015 to 2019. Nissan ...