Nissan faces probe from US regulators over Carlos Ghosn scandal

SEC looking into whether Japanese car manufacturer’s disclosures around executive pay were accurate

Nissan said on Monday it has received an inquiry from US regulators over a scandal surrounding the pay of its ousted chair Carlos Ghosn.

The Japanese car manufacturer said it was cooperating fully with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) inquiry.

Nissan shares fell 0.8 per cent in Tokyo on Monday to 920.3 yen, slightly more than the average of 0.6 per cent across all stocks in the Nikkei index.

The SEC is looking into whether Nissan’s disclosures around executive pay were accurate and whether adequate controls were in place to prevent improper payments.

Nissan’s former chair has been detained in Tokyo since his arrest on 19 November, along with another company director, Greg Kelly, on charges relating to alleged underreporting of Mr Ghosn’s income by millions of dollars. Both men deny wrongdoing.

The SEC’s interest is not a formal investigation but it potentially opens up a new front in the scandal around Nissan and its former star boss.

The Japanese company’s shares are listed on the Nikkei in Tokyo but can be traded in the US through what are known as American depositary receipts, which give the SEC jurisdiction.

Mr Ghosn last week stepped down from his role as chief executive of Renault, which along with Mitsubishi makes up a three-company alliance with Nissan.

French president Emmanuel Macron, whose government is Renault’s largest shareholder, on Friday expressed concern about Mr Ghosn’s conditions in jail and the length of his detention.

“All I’ll say is that I felt the detention was too long and too hard, and I told Abe that,” Mr Macron said, when asked about a conversation with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. “I’m just concerned that the case of a French citizen should respect basic decency.”

It is common for Japanese authorities to hold suspects for weeks or even months before trial.