Japanese Developer Under Probe

Source : The Business Times, August 26, 2008

(TOKYO) Urban Corp, the property developer that collapsed in Japan's biggest bankruptcy this year, is being examined for its market disclosure, Financial Services Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said yesterday.

Mr Motegi said he was aware of questions being raised about Urban's behaviour, without commenting more specifically on the case. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission will immediately take action against any company that is found to violate rules or act inappropriately, Mr Motegi told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo yesterday.

Urban first revealed on June 26 that it planned to sell 30 billion yen (S$387 million) of convertible bonds to BNP Paribas to secure operating funds and stabilise its finances. The Hiroshima-based company did not disclose the derivatives transactions that returned funds to the French bank until it issued a bankruptcy statement on Aug 13. -- Bloomberg