Crime & Courts

5 Ex-SMBC Nikko Officials Convicted in Market Manipulation Case

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Tokyo District Court in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

Jiji Press

16:21 JST, July 22, 2025

Tokyo, July 22 (Jiji Press)—Tokyo District Court on Tuesday found five former senior officials of SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. guilty in a stock price manipulation case.

According to the ruling, the five violated the financial instruments and exchange law between 2019 and 2021 by placing massive buy orders for 10 stocks before conducting so-called block offer transactions, in which brokerage firms buy shares from major shareholders to sell to investors outside the market.

During the trial, the five, including Makoto Yamada, 48, former head of the company’s equity division, and former deputy company chief Toshihiro Sato, 63, pleaded not guilty.

Yamada was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and Sato and former Senior Managing Executive Officer Trevor Hill, 54, both to two years and six months, suspended for five years. Former executive officer Alexandre Avakiants, 47, was given one year and six months, suspended for three years, and former division head Shinichiro Okazaki, 59, received two years, suspended for four years.

In the same case, the Tokyo court convicted SMBC Nikko and a former company executive in February 2023. Both had admitted to the charges. At the time, the court recognized that they had conspired with the five defendants.