Japan’s Sumitomo Life Employees Mishandled Nearly 800 Documents at Agencies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:21 JST, February 9, 2026

Employees of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. were found to have taken or photographed, without permission, 780 documents from the eight agencies to which they had been assigned, the company announced on Monday.

The documents concerned the agencies’ sales performance and products from other life insurance companies and was shared within Sumitomo Life Insurance. The company explained that this did not constitute “infringement of trade secrets” as prohibited under the Unfair Competition Prevention law.

According to the announcement, 13 employees either took documents stored at their assigned locations without permission or photographed them using smartphones between April 2022 and May 2025, subsequently sending the information to others at the head office. The information taken was shared with as many as 50 executives and staff members in a single case.

Sumitomo Life Insurance is considering disciplinary action against some of those involved. However, the company said no evidence has been found of the information having been shared with third parties, nor of any systematic instructions being issued.

Similar problems have surfaced at other life insurance companies, including Nippon Life Insurance Co., Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. and Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co.