---
title: "Nidec leadership: what the committee found about each president"
language: en
canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/nidec/management-responsibility/
as_of: 2026-10-06
keywords: ["Nidec","accounting","corporate governance","audit","quality","subsidiaries"]
---

# Nidec leadership: what the committee found about each president

**Question.** Why should the leadership findings not be reduced to one accusation?

**Answer.** The report distinguished direct instructions, general awareness, tolerated delays and the absence of identified involvement; the September board decision was a later and separate assessment.

## Pressure and deferred correction

- Analysis: The committee described targets that exceeded operating capability and pressure transmitted from the founder through headquarters to business units. Accounting departments sometimes helped obtain the required numbers rather than restraining improper treatment. The report also recognised that legitimate accounting judgment exists; it did not describe every estimate as misconduct. [s-d11]
- Attributed: The committee attributed the accounting misconduct it identified to excessive pressure to meet operating-profit targets. It described targets set from investor expectations rather than operating capacity, pressure transmitted through headquarters, and accounting departments that sometimes participated in the adjustments instead of restraining them. [s-d11]
  - Qualification: The report distinguishes impermissible treatment from legitimate accounting judgment. Its aggregate correction figures include errors as well as intentional misconduct.
- Analysis: Its account of “legacy liabilities” concerns assets of questionable value. Requiring businesses to absorb write-offs while meeting profit targets postponed correction. The committee said Kishida sought structural reform without charging business-unit performance, Nagamori rejected that approach, and some necessary write-offs remained unrecorded without Kishida knowing that result. [s-d11]
- Attributed: The committee described “legacy liabilities” as accumulated assets of questionable value. The Asset Revitalization Project required write-offs to be funded from operating performance; later structural reforms prioritised selected write-offs while preserving profit targets. It said this approach delayed accounting corrections and allowed new problematic assets to accumulate. [s-d11]
  - Qualification: The internal expression refers here to questionable asset values, not a separately measured balance-sheet liability. The report’s different restructuring amounts are not additional cash losses to be summed.
  - Response: The report says Kishida repeatedly sought reforms without charging their cost to business-unit performance, but Nagamori rejected the proposal on profit-target grounds. It says Kishida was unaware that some necessary write-offs were consequently left unrecorded.

## Different findings for different people

- Analysis: For Nagamori, the committee found no direct instruction to perform the identified accounting misconduct, but concluded that he knew of and accepted delayed correction and bore the greatest responsibility for the system. For Kobe, it lacked evidence of specific knowledge of particular misconduct yet inferred general awareness and toleration of planned correction. These are differentiated investigative judgments, not criminal verdicts. [s-d11]
- Attributed: The committee found no facts showing that Nagamori directly instructed the identified improper accounting, but concluded that he knew of and accepted delayed correction and should bear the greatest responsibility for the system of excessive pressure. For Kobe it found no evidence of specific knowledge of particular misconduct, while inferring general awareness and toleration of planned rather than immediate correction. [s-d11]
  - Qualification: These are the committee’s differentiated assessments of responsibility. They are not criminal verdicts, and the absence of evidence of direct instructions is not a conclusion that governance responsibility disappeared.
- Analysis: For Kishida, Yoshimoto and Seki, the committee found no facts showing instruction, direction or toleration of the misconduct it uncovered. Outside officers said the reporting they received had not exposed the fundamental pressure problem or accumulated problematic assets. Those limits belong beside the criticism, while remaining bounded by the investigation’s evidence and access. [s-d11] [s-d18]
- Attributed: The same committee found no facts indicating that Kishida, Yoshimoto or Seki instructed, directed or condoned the accounting misconduct it uncovered. Outside officers interviewed said that the reports they received had not explained the fundamental performance-pressure problem or the accumulated “legacy liabilities”. [s-d11]
  - Qualification: The finding is bounded by the committee’s investigation and evidence. It is not a lifetime clearance of every action by these individuals or every outside director.
- Attributed: The accounting committee was established on 3 September 2025, delivered its first report on 27 February 2026 and its final supplement on 17 April. Its final work included 612 interviews with 337 people and forensic investigations covering 129 people; the supplement left its earlier cause analysis and recommendations unchanged. [s-d11] [s-d18]
  - Qualification: This was a company-appointed investigation relying on voluntary cooperation, not a compulsory court proceeding. Some former personnel could not be interviewed, personal data holdings were not comprehensively inspected, auditor workpapers were not examined and engagement partners were not interviewed. Written auditor answers were obtained; the report did not evaluate the auditor or guarantee any court decision.

## The later board review and new appointments

- Analysis: In September Nidec announced a further review of Kishida’s financial-reporting conduct. The release referred to statements or actions that were not necessarily appropriate, credited his work on rebuilding the company, and said the board expected a higher ethical standard. It did not disclose the incidents. His resignation therefore should not be described as a court finding or a reversal of every earlier committee conclusion. [s-d14]
- Attributed: On 29 September 2026 Nidec announced that Kishida resigned as representative director, president and CEO after a further company review found some statements or conduct concerning financial reporting that could not necessarily be regarded as appropriate. The company said the board applied the higher ethical standard expected under its new governance structure. [s-d14]
  - Qualification: The release does not specify the underlying incidents or announce a court finding. This later board judgment must not be substituted retrospectively for the accounting committee’s distinct finding about instructions, direction and toleration.
  - Response: Nidec also credited Kishida with sincere work on restoring the business since the committee was established, and said he offered to resign after the board’s discussions.
- Analysis: Kaida became president and CEO while retaining his CTO role on 29 September. Minai became representative director. The proposed appointment of Kaida as representative director still required shareholder and board approval, while the September annual filing identified Nakagawa as acting CFO. Combining these positions into a single undated leadership roster would misstate the transition. [s-d10] [s-d14]
- Documented: The same release appointed Michio Kaida president and CEO while retaining his CTO role, and appointed Masayuki Minai representative director effective 29 September 2026. Kaida’s appointment as a representative director was a nomination subject to a future extraordinary shareholder meeting and subsequent board meeting. [s-d10] [s-d14]
  - Qualification: The annual filing identifies Kazuo Nakagawa as acting CFO. The filing date is not evidence of his appointment date. Kaida’s announced executive appointment and his pending board appointment are different events.

## Sources

- [s-d11] Research source · s-d11
- [s-d18] Research source · s-d18
- [s-d14] Company statement source · s-d14
- [s-d10] Company statement source · s-d10