SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE SURVEILLANCE COMMISSION


Press Release
March 6, 2001


The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) conducted an inspection of CIBC World Markets (Japan) Inc., Tokyo Branch (CIBC), based on provisions of the Law on Foreign Securities Firms (LFSF), and found legal violations described below.

Today, the SESC sent a recommendation to the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Financial Services Agency (FSA) to take a disciplinary action against CIBC pursuant to Article 20(1) of the FSA Establishment Law.

Solicitation with promise of special profit

  1. In November 1997, CIBC proposed a corporate customer a scheme to defer a loss of a note, which was nearly of no value at this time, with adding new fund. In this scheme, a pecuniary profit was also promised to be provided to the customer. Consequently the whole process was purported to avoid the realization of a loss from the original note.
     
  2. In October 1998, CIBC also promised a corporate customer that, when it made an advance payment for a new note to a checking account in a CIBC-affiliated bank, CIBC would add interests upon the new note, corresponding to the duration of the deposit, in fact that the checking account itself does not normally produce any interests.

(Violation of a Ministerial Ordinance, Article 50 (1) (vi) of the Security and Exchange Law, including the application of Article 17 (1) of the LFSF prior to the amendment of December 1st 1998 is applied.)


Recommendations to the FSA | top