オリンパス ウッドフォード氏の取締役辞任 臨時株主総会開催へ

今日（12/1木）のニュースでウッドフォード氏が取締役を辞任することが報じられた。幸い、氏によるプレス・リリース（末尾に掲載）が発表されているのでそれを参照する。
リリースの後半のところで氏は次のように述べている。

However, in the absence of a shareholder vote enabling me to do this, I am committed to ensuring that Olympus has the best possible opportunity to succeed going forward, starting with a new and untainted board of directors, and I believe my resignation is necessary in this context.

これは主要株主と組んで臨時株主総会の開催を要求することになり、会社側と対決することを宣言したものである。臨時株主総会の開催を請求できる条件は次のとおりである。

総株主の議決権の百分の三（これを下回る割合を定款で定めた場合にあっては、その割合）以上の議決権を六箇月（これを下回る期間を定款で定めた場合にあっては、その期間）前から引き続き有する株主）は、取締役に対し、株主総会の目的である事項（当該株主が議決権を行使することができる事項に限る。）及び招集の理由を示して、株主総会の招集を請求することができる（会社法第２９７条第１項）。

株主総会は召集請求をした日から8週間以内に開催しなければならない（同297条第4項）ので、請求日が今月上旬であれば2月前半に臨時株主総会は開催されることになる。

今後、会社側とウッドフォード氏側との間で激しい委任状争奪戦（proxy fight）が繰り広げられることになろう。

現在の取締役は来年の定時総会まで今の地位に留まるようである。彼らはこの事件に加担したか、黙認したか、見抜けなかった。彼らは自らの地位の正当性をどのように株主に主張するのであろうか、そして株主はどのような判断を下すか。今後の展開を見逃せない。

Press Release by Michael Woodford
December 1, 2011
“Olympus: The Way Forward
I am announcing my decision to resign from my position as a director of Olympus Corporation. I was, of course, only a director without executive authority following my removal from office on 14th October 2011.

It has been a difficult decision for me to resign from a Company that I have devoted my entire working life to, and I can assure you that it is one which has been reached by me as a last resort after reading the President of Olympus Corporation's Message dated 28 November 2011.

Following the Board Meeting that I attended last Friday in Tokyo, I was extremely concerned about the way in which the Olympus management team would be reformed in order to best position the Company to move forward. Whilst I remained hopeful that a credible solution would be formulated, it would appear from the President's Message dated 28th November that Mr.Takayama and the existing board plan to preside over reform of the Company's management team with the likely outcome being that these same people will either appoint or at the very least influence the appointment of the Company's new board members.

I believe that the promise for reform or reconstruction by Mr. Takayama and the current board carries little or no credibility and is continuing to harm Olympus and its long term future. I am strongly of the view that it's completely inappropriate for the current management team who are tainted by its past mistakes to make choices about the identity of new board members. Key decisions such as this should be made by the Company's shareholders, and a new management team which is entirely independent from the current management should be appointed as soon as possible.

Following my resignation, I intend to liaise with all interested stakeholders with a view to formulating a proposal for the constitution of a new board. This proposal should be considered by the Company's shareholders and, with this in mind, I formally request the current management to convene an extraordinary shareholders' meeting as soon as possible to allow the shareholders to decide who should lead the Company through these challenging times.

Let me make it explicitly clear: I am not walking away from Olympus. I believe passionately in the Company, its employees, its products and its future. It is a wonderful and successful company which has been led down the wrong path by the actions of some of its board members. Olympus has the potential to once again become a world class organization which is the envy of its competitors demonstrating the highest standards of corporate governance. I would like nothing more than to return to Olympus and lead it towards achieving this status. However, in the absence of a shareholder vote enabling me to do this, I am committed to ensuring that Olympus has the best possible opportunity to succeed going forward, starting with a new and untainted board of directors, and I believe my resignation is necessary in this context.

Finally, I hope my action will provide an opportunity for the current management team to reflect on their past mistakes and that it will encourage each of them to accept their responsibility for the Company's existing difficulties and to do what is in the Company's best interests by standing aside after an extraordinary general meeting.

I believe that this course of action is the best way possible to ensure the successful future of Olympus, a company I care so deeply about and for which I will give everything of myself to achieve the right outcome.

Michael Woodford