ShinMaywa escapes penalties for antitrust violations after self-reporting

ShinMaywa Industries and its subsidiary, Toho Car Corporation, violated the Antimonopoly Act regarding sales prices of special purpose trucks. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) conducted an on-site inspection on November 12, 2024. While other manufacturers received Cease and Desist Orders and Administrative Fine Payment Orders, ShinMaywa and Toho Car were exempted. This was due to voluntarily reporting the violations before the inspection under a leniency policy and fully cooperating with the investigation.

ShinMaywa Industries implemented disciplinary actions, including a 10% monthly remuneration reduction for three months for Koichiro Oda, managing executive officer and vice president of corporate planning division (former president, special purpose truck division), and Hidetomo Ishihara, executive officer, senior vice president of the special purpose truck division. Four directors, including Tatsuyuki Isogawa (president and CEO) and Masayuki Tomita (president and CEO of Toho Car), voluntarily returned a portion of their remuneration.

The company also outlined measures to prevent recurrence. These include enhanced corporate ethics education, an internal investigation into potential Antimonopoly Act violations over the past five years, mandatory compliance training, stricter rules on exchanging competitively sensitive information with competitors, and establishing an internal leniency rule for employees. These actions underscore a commitment to strengthening legal compliance.