World Economy:
March 26th, 2009 in Breaking News, The Elite
No prison time for Japanese minister over stocks trade?
Japanese minister quits over stocks trade - Yahoo! Canada News.
TOKYO (AFP) - Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Thursday that he has accepted the resignation of Japan’s deputy finance minister for selling stocks in violation of a government ethics code.
The resignation of Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hirata is another setback for Aso, whose former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa quit last month after appearing drunk at Group of Seven ministers meeting in Rome.
Hirata, a 60-year-old lower house member of Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party, resigned after he sold a large amount of stocks this month.
A code of ethics requires politically appointed ministers and senior vice ministers to put any securities in a trust and refrain from trading them while in office.
Asked about the resignation, Aso told reporters: “I accepted it.”
Aso said he had heard through the chief cabinet secretary that Hirata had submitted his resignation to Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.
Hirata sold stocks of Chiyoda Ute Co., which was founded by his father, at nearly double its market value via off-market trading to a petroleum products sales firm of which he is the largest shareholder, Kyodo reported.
March 26th, 2009 in Breaking News, The Elite
No prison time for Japanese minister over stocks trade?
Japanese minister quits over stocks trade - Yahoo! Canada News.
TOKYO (AFP) - Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Thursday that he has accepted the resignation of Japan’s deputy finance minister for selling stocks in violation of a government ethics code.
The resignation of Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hirata is another setback for Aso, whose former finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa quit last month after appearing drunk at Group of Seven ministers meeting in Rome.
Hirata, a 60-year-old lower house member of Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party, resigned after he sold a large amount of stocks this month.
A code of ethics requires politically appointed ministers and senior vice ministers to put any securities in a trust and refrain from trading them while in office.
Asked about the resignation, Aso told reporters: “I accepted it.”
Aso said he had heard through the chief cabinet secretary that Hirata had submitted his resignation to Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.
Hirata sold stocks of Chiyoda Ute Co., which was founded by his father, at nearly double its market value via off-market trading to a petroleum products sales firm of which he is the largest shareholder, Kyodo reported.
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