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The Tokyo Stock Exchange's decision not to delist scandal-ridden Olympus Corp. was lambasted by critics who said the company's concealment of huge losses for many years constituted breach of trust. The TSE's rules stipulate that companies should be delisted when the effects of false reporting are judged to be serious from a "comprehensive" viewpoint. Makoto Minoguchi, standing governor of Tokyo Stock Exchange Regulation, the TSE's self-regulatory body, said at a press conference Friday, "The effects of the false reporting were not serious enough to delist the company's shares." However, Minoguchi harshly criticized Olympus by saying the company damaged investors' trust in the market, and he demanded fundamental improvements in corporate governance.

Olympus Corp. has filed a lawsuit against former and incumbent executives of the company, including former Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa and President Shuichi Takayama, over their alleged involvement in a cover-up of massive investment losses. According to sources, the major optical equipment maker filed the lawsuit Sunday with the Tokyo District Court against about 20 former and incumbent executives, demanding they pay several billion yen in compensation.

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. plans to sell a new type of external building material that generates power from sunlight beginning in fiscal 2013, it has been learned. Unlike conventional solar panels, whose installation sites are limited to roofs and other specific places, the new material can be used for walls of buildings and other structures in sunny locations. The new material will likely boost the spread of renewable energy. If the material is used for skyscraper walls, just one or two buildings could produce electricity equal to that generated at a large-scale solar power plant, according to experts.

Japan's major electronics maker Panasonic Corp. launched its new group structure Sunday, reorganizing its business fields and two wholly owned units into three main groups as it places greater emphasis on energy-related businesses. Panasonic's business fields are now divided into three groups — consumer, components and devices, and solutions — after it restructured five business segments that included operations of the two subsidiaries, Sanyo Electric Co. and Panasonic Electric Works Co. The 16 business divisions were consolidated into nine divisions including appliances, energy and healthcare under the three business fields. The company is also proceeding with a reduction in the group's workforce, aiming to reduce the number to less than 350,000 by the end of the current fiscal year in March from around 360,000 employees as of Sept. 30.