Toshiba removes 2 board member candidates after revelations of inappropriate actions

Toshiba Corp removed two board directors Junji Ota, chairman of Toshiba's audit committee, and its member Takashi Yamauchi in its list of candidates pending shareholder approval in June after revelations of the conglomerate's inappropriate handling of foreign activist investors.

The exclusion of the two brings the total number of nominees to 11 from 13.

Independent lawyers concluded earlier this month Toshiba had colluded with the Ministry of Economy to fend off activist foreign investors in the company's general shareholders' meeting last summer by applying pressure.

The foreign investors requested the investigation.

Major Toshiba shareholders include Singapore-based firms Effissimo Capital Management Pte Ltd and 3D Investment Partners Pte Ltd, which has demanded that Toshiba's board chairman Osamu Nagayama and three other executives resign.

Toshiba has been accepting foreign investments in recent years to cope with its financial struggles.

In unanimously deciding on the removal, Toshiba said it took the independent panel's report "seriously." It added that it would strive to objectively and transparently, with the participation of third parties, identify the root cause without delay.

Two senior executives mentioned in the independent panel's report, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Masayasu Toyohara and Corporate Senior Vice President Masaharu Kamo, are set to retire on June 25, when the shareholders meet.