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The Australian government said Thursday it will fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the country’s largest class action in history over a scheme that sent false debt repayment demands to welfare recipients.The “robodebt” scandal, which ran from 2015 to 2019, caused such distress to job seekers, pensioners, students and carers that some considered suicide. It also allegedly pushed two young men to take their own lives.Thursday’s settlement, subject to approval by the Federal Court, will pay Aus$475 million (US$310 million) in compensation to those affected by the scheme.It would be the largest class action settlement in Australian history, the Attorney-General’s office said in a statement.”Settling this claim is the just and fair thing to do,” Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said.”The Royal Commission described Robodebt as a ‘crude and cruel mechanism, neither fair nor legal’.””It found that ‘people were traumatised on the off chance they might owe money’ and that Robodebt was ‘a costly failure of public administration, in both human and economic terms’,” she said.The settlement will be paid on top of a 2020 class action settlement, when the government agreed to pay Aus$112 million in compensation to around 400,000 people.The “robodebt” scheme used income averaging — comparing a person’s reported income with their income as measured by the Australian Tax Office — to automatically issue notices to welfare recipients saying they would have to repay some of the benefits they had received.But the system was faulty, resulting in hundreds of thousands of people receiving demands to pay back money they did not owe.

Colombia’s coal exports fell by almost half in July compared to the same month last year, official figures showed Wednesday, amid a global price crisis and days after President Gustavo Petro’s ban on sales to Israel.Colombia is Latin America’s leading coal producer but the sector has contracted for five consecutive quarters due to the collapse of international prices and domestic policies. The country exported $479.8 million worth of coal in July, a 45.8 percent drop from the $885.8 million sold during July 2024, according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics.Local mining unions blame increased production in Indonesia that has driven down global prices.Last month, Petro issued a second decree for Colombia to halt coal exports to Israel in protest against its deadly war in Gaza, renewing a June 2024 edict. Colombia was previously Israel’s top coal supplier. In a broader push for sustainability, the leftist president has imposed higher taxes on coal with a view to moving his country toward renewable energies.  Since coming to power in 2022, Petro has also halted several mining projects and instead promoted agriculture and tourism as alternative sectors for the roughly 350,000 people employed in mineral exploration. But some miners have told AFP they fear losing their jobs, while towns whose economies depend on the industry are also feeling the impact.”The government wants to end mining … but they don’t think about us,” said Jorge Noriega, a 60-year-old worker at a coal mine in Tausa, a town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from capital Bogota. El Cerrejon, Colombia’s largest coal mine operated by Anglo-Swiss firm Glencore, said in March it would reduce its production by 50 percent due to high operating costs. 

European and US equities mostly rebounded Wednesday as a global bond selloff eased, with shares in Google parent Alphabet jumping after a favorable court ruling.Nevertheless gold struck a new record high as investors continued to worry over mounting government debt, with Japanese bond yields hitting a new high.Wall Street stocks were mostly higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index finishing up around one percent after a US judge refrained from requiring Google to sell its Chrome web browser in an antitrust case.Shares in Google parent Alphabet rose around nine percent, while Apple — whose lucrative deal to make Google search the default on iPhones was also spared in the court ruling — rose nearly four percent.”Overall, investors saw the outcome as supportive for big tech, showing that while regulatory scrutiny is ongoing, the business models of major players remain largely intact,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services provider Trade Nation.Meanwhile, a soft US labor market report helped boost investor confidence the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, a positive for equities.European equities also firmed, but Asia’s major stock markets were in the red.The selloff in Japanese debt mirrored similar moves in the United States and Europe on Tuesday, with investors spooked over substantial piles of government debt globally.”Government bond yields have jumped sharply in recent days, largely because investors are demanding a higher return to lend to countries with heavy borrowing needs,” said Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot. It has been fueled by “ballooning sovereign debt, political hurdles to fiscal tightening… and structurally higher inflation following the Covid disruptions and the ongoing trade war”, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.Investors in Japan reacted also to concerns that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba might soon be forced to step down.In the United States, the 30-year government bond yield eased back, having come close to hitting the five-percent mark, reflecting concerns over the country’s deficit and the impact of a court ruling against President Donald Trump’s tariffs.Bonds of leading European nations also showed signs of stabilizing, a day after the yield on Britain’s 30-year gilts hit levels not seen since 1998. Investors are “choosing to hold gold as protection against a host of uncertainties including President Trump’s tariffs, fiscal policy across major economies and rising bond yields,” said Trade Nation’s Morrison.Investors have also grown nervous about the US Federal Reserve’s future after Trump attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.Trump’s intervention “raises questions about the long-term independence of US monetary policy — a concern that gold naturally absorbs as a hedge against political interference”, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo bank.Oil prices dropped back amid expectations of excess supply in the coming months as OPEC+ nations are expected to further unwind production cuts.- Key figures at around 2030 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 45,271.23 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,448.26 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 21,497.73 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 9,177.99 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,719.71 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 23,594.80 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 41,938.89 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 25,343.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,813.56 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at 1.1663 from $1.1640 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3445 at from $1.3394Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.12 yen from 148.36 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.75 pence from 86.90 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.3 percent at $67.55 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.5 percent at $63.97 per barrelburs-jmb/md

A Swiss court on Wednesday weighed up whether to hear a landmark climate case pitting residents of a tiny Indonesian island being swallowed by rising sea levels against cement giant Holcim.”It is like a David versus Goliath struggle,” one of the plaintiffs, Asmania, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP after the hearing.The case is part of a wider international movement seeking to assign to major companies responsibility for the climate damage hurting the livelihoods of millions of people, especially in developing countries.Oil companies have typically been the biggest targets, but climate activists are hoping the suit against Holcim will highlight the role of a lesser-known but highly polluting industry, which is responsible for around eight percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere each year.Four residents of Pari island filed a suit demanding compensation from the world’s largest cement firm for the damage wrought by climate change and help to fund protection measures on the island.Asmania and another plaintiff travelled to Switzerland to take part in Wednesday’s hearing at the court in Zug, where Holcim is headquartered, to determine whether or not it will consider the complaint.It was not clear when the court would give its decision.- ‘Climate justice’ -“I feel very moved,” Asmania, a 42-year-old mother-of-three, told AFP.”I believe the judges will stand for us, so we will win.” Before the hearing, Holcim maintained that “the question of who is allowed to emit how much CO2” should be “a matter for the legislature and not a question for a civil court”. But it said Wednesday that “we await the court’s decision”, insisting that it was “fully committed to reaching net zero by 2050 with sustainability at the core of our strategy”. The company has not owned any cement plants in Indonesia since 2019, but the plaintiffs maintain it “shares responsibility for rising temperatures and thus rising sea levels”, explained Yvan Maillard-Ardenti of the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) NGO helping the islanders.  Environmentalists say Holcim ranks among the world’s 100 biggest corporate CO2 emitters, and so bears significant responsibility for climate-related loss and damage.The case illustrates the new face of the climate fight, as activists use the courts rather than rely on political action in the fight against global warming.If accepted, it could be a milestone for plaintiffs from developing countries who take on industrial giants.- ‘Inspirational’ -Environmentalists have said 11 percent of the 42-hectare (104-acre) island of Pari has already disappeared in recent years, and it could be completely under water by 2050 due to rising sea levels.The islanders say saltwater floods have surged in scale and frequency, battering homes and damaging livelihoods.Asmania has already lost her seaweed farm because of flooding, which has also blighted her fish farm.”We are the climate victims, but we are not contributing to big emissions,” she said.”It is our survival that is at stake.”The four plaintiffs are seeking 3,600 Swiss francs ($4,500) each from Holcim for damages and for protection measures such as planting mangroves and constructing breakwater barriers.HEKS stressed that the amount was only equivalent to 0.42 percent of the actual costs — in line with estimates that Holcim is responsible for 0.42 percent of global industrial CO2 emissions since 1750.In addition, the plaintiffs are demanding a 43 percent reduction in Holcim’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 69 percent reduction by 2040.”The contrast is enormous between this island, which is disappearing, and the wealth we have here in Zug,” Maillard-Ardenti said.”This wealth comes from large multinationals like Holcim, (which) have never paid a single franc in climate compensation,” he said, stressing that the total 14,000 francs requested by the plaintiffs was “less than an hour’s salary for the chairman of Holcim’s board”.

A global bond selloff extended on Wednesday, sending yields in Japan to record levels, and gold reached a new peak, as investors fret over mounting government debt.European equities firmed while Asia’s major stock markets were in the red.”Government bond yields have jumped sharply in recent days, largely because investors are demanding a higher return to lend to countries with heavy borrowing needs,” said Richard Carter, head of fixed interest research at Quilter Cheviot. Yields on 30-year Japanese government bonds rose to an all-time high of 3.29 percent on Wednesday, while 20-year yields reached their highest since 1999.The selloff in Japanese debt mirrors widespread moves in the United States and Europe, with investors spooked over substantial piles of government debt globally.It has been fuelled by “ballooning sovereign debt, political hurdles to fiscal tightening… and structurally higher inflation following the Covid disruptions and the ongoing trade war”, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.Investors in Japan reacted also to concerns that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba might soon be forced to step down.Ishiba, 68, took the helm of the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party last year and has since lost his majority in both houses of parliament, most recently in upper chamber elections in July.In the United States, the 30-year government bond yield hovered around the five-percent mark, reflecting concerns over the country’s deficit and President Donald Trump’s fiscal policiesBritain’s selloff pushed on, albeit at a slower pace, after 30-year gilt yields on Tuesday hit levels not seen since 1998. French and German bonds, meanwhile, showed signs of stabilising.  Traders have turned to traditional safe havens, pushing gold to a fresh high of $3,546.96 an ounce Wednesday.Prices have risen five percent over the last six days, with investors nervous over the US Federal Reserve’s future after Trump attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.She is accused of claiming two primary residences on mortgage documents in 2021 — a move that tends to result in better loan terms for an individual property.Cook has not been charged with a crime, while the alleged incidents occurred before she took office as a Fed governor in 2022.Trump’s intervention “raises questions about the long-term independence of US monetary policy — a concern that gold naturally absorbs as a hedge against political interference”, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo bank.Oil prices dropped back amid expectations of excess supply in the coming months.In company news, shares in Google parent Alphabet surged in after-hours trading Tuesday after a US judge rejected the government’s bid to force the company to sell its Chrome web browser.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 9,162.59 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,723.75Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 23,659.63Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 41,938.89 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 25,343.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,813.56 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 45,295.81 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at 1.1645 from $1.1640 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3404 at from $1.3394Dollar/yen: UP at 148.69 from 148.37 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.87 pence from 86.92 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.0 percent at $67.75 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.3 percent at $64.07 per barrel

A global bond selloff extended into Asia on Wednesday with yields in Japan hitting record levels, while gold reached a new peak as investors fret about public finances in countries from Japan to the United States.Investors in Japan are also reacting to concerns that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba might soon be forced to step down after the number two in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) offered to quit on Tuesday over July’s disastrous upper house election.Asian indexes were largely in the red, with Tokyo down 0.9 percent and Shanghai more than one percent lower at the close.European markets opened higher.Yields on 30-year Japanese government bonds rose to an all-time high of 3.29 percent, while 20-year yields reached 2.69 percent — their highest since 1999.”The Japanese 30-year yield’s breach of 3.25 percent may prove far more destabilising than local politics,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a note.”A clean break above that threshold doesn’t just unsettle Japanese savers; it forces insurers, pensions, and reserve managers worldwide to recalibrate their models. Once those rebalancing dominoes start to fall, equity markets everywhere feel the aftershocks,” Innes said.Japan is due to hold a 30-year bond auction on Thursday, though buyer interest has been muted.”The selloff in long-duration bonds is fuelled by several factors: concerns over ballooning sovereign debt, political hurdles to fiscal tightening… and structurally higher inflation,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.The selloff in Japanese debt mirrors widespread moves in the United States and Europe, with investors spooked over substantial piles of government debt globally.The US 30-year yield flirted with the five-percent mark, while Britain’s 30-year gilt yield climbed to levels not seen since 1998. In France, the 30-year yield spiked to 4.5 percent for the first time since 2009 — highlighting concerns around a budget standoff in Paris.Traders have been turning to traditional safe havens, pushing gold to a record high of $3,546.96 an ounce.Prices have risen five percent over the last six days, with traders nervous over the US Federal Reserve’s future after President Donald Trump attempted to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.”President Trump’s return to the White House may have altered investor preference of safe havens,” said Carol Kong of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.”Gold outperformed, gaining more than 30 percent year‑to‑date. The risk is the USD further loses its safe haven appeal if President Trump continues to undermine the independence of key US institutions, particularly the Federal Reserve.”- Key figures at around 0830 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 41,938.89 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 25,343.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,813.56 (close) London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 9,151.80Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 7,715.60Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 23,611.50New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 45,295.81 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at 1.1632 from $1.1640 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at 1.3365 at from $1.3394Dollar/yen: UP at 148.78 from 148.37 yen Euro/pound: UP at 87.03 pence from 86.92 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 at $68.91 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $65.39 per barrel

The CEO of Japanese spirits giant Suntory who resigned over a drugs probe said Wednesday he was innocent, and that he was recommended cannabidiol to cope with his hard travel schedule. Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s best-known business people, quit this week after he was put under investigation regarding his involvement in supplements sent from the United States to Japan. “I have not broken the law and consider myself innocent,” Niinami told a press conference. The 66-year-old said he believed he bought products with the active ingredient cannabidiol, or CBD, that do not break Japan’s strict drug law.   “I travel frequently for work, so I suffer terribly from jet lag,” said Niinami who has served as an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.”That’s why my acquaintance… strongly recommended CBD.” Japan has strict drug laws and possession can result in jail time. The rule Japan introduced in 2023 leaves CBD products unregulated, but it targets THC — the psychoactive substance that makes people high.Niinami was suspected of importing products containing THC, local media reported. But he said he used to buy the same product in Japan, and believed those in the US were safe to purchase. Police searched his home last month after the arrest of the brother of an acquaintance who received a package containing supplements from the United States.Public broadcaster NHK said police learnt that the brother intended to send it to Niinami’s house in Tokyo.The former CEO, however, said he “was not informed of this at all, and it is unclear whether it is the supplements I purchased”. Suntory on Tuesday said the company had accepted Niinami’s resignation, saying authorities will determine whether the supplements are illegal.However, company president Nobuhiro Torii said the company concluded that Niinami’s actions “inevitably fall short of the qualities required” of a CEO.Niinami will refrain from activities as the head of business lobby Keizai Doyukai for the moment and leave the decision whether he will stay in the group. He joined Suntory Holdings in 2014, after serving as CEO of convenience store chain Lawson.Suntory is known for its internationally acclaimed whisky and has become one of the world’s biggest spirits makers after acquiring the US maker of Jim Beam, a few months before Niinami joined. In 2024, the German-born former CEO of optical equipment firm Olympus was found guilty of a drug charge.In 2017, a German executive working at Volkswagen’s Tokyo office was arrested on suspicion of drug use.

President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC’s authorization to export US chipmaking equipment to China without a license, further restricting access to US technology in the country.The move comes as the US Commerce Department moved to end the “validated end-user” (VEU) program allowing select foreign semiconductor manufacturers to export US-origin goods and tech license-free to make chips in China.”TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing will be revoked effective December 31, 2025,” said a spokesperson for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Tuesday.”While we are evaluating the situation and taking appropriate measures, including communicating with the US government, we remain fully committed to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of TSMC Nanjing,” TSMC added in a statement.TSMC is the world’s largest contract maker of chips that are used in everything from smartphones to missiles, and counts Nvidia and Apple among its clients.But the center of its most advanced manufacturing remains in Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as part of its territory.Taiwan’s economic ministry said Wednesday that the US move was expected to “affect the predictability of the plant’s future operations.”However, the ministry pointed out that TSMC’s Nanjing plant only accounts for around three percent of its total production capacity and “even lower” of the island’s overall chip production. “We estimate that this will not affect Taiwan’s overall industrial competitiveness,” it said in a statement.On Friday, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said that former VEU participants will have 120 days after the new rule is published in the Federal Register to apply for and receive export licenses.But while the bureau plans to grant licenses to allow these businesses to run existing China-based plants, it does not plan to issue licenses for them “to expand capacity or upgrade technology,” it said.

Stock markets fell and gold hit a record high Tuesday as investors fled to safe havens over concerns about US President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve fight, tariffs uncertainty and Europe’s public finances.Wall Street’s main indices spent the entire session in the red after investors returned from the Labor Day holiday, while European stock markets lost significant ground at the close.The borrowing costs of the United States, France and Britain rose as the yield on their sovereign bonds jumped.Frankfurt’s DAX index shed 2.3 percent while London lost 0.9 percent.”September can be a strange month for financial markets, as stocks historically tend to underperform,” noted Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB traders. “However, a selloff in the bond market and a rush to the dollar and gold are signs that investors are rushing into safe havens and liquid assets,” she added.Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG, said “markets often see a burst of volatility after US holidays, but today seemed to have something more about it, as European markets nosedived in early trading and bond yields continued to rise.” Near 2030 GMT, gold stood at $3,536.56 an ounce Tuesday, easily topping its previous record of $3,500.10 in April.Wall Street analysts pointed to the drag from a US court ruling Friday blocking many of Trump’s tariffs. The US president has vowed to appeal.”We’re thrown back in that place of uncertainty” regarding trade, said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.The court decision, and Trump’s appeal, “prolongs the end or the exit from this trade war,” said Hogan, dashing hopes the trade war was nearing an end.Investors were also watching developments in Trump’s bid to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook, with a court hearing her challenge on Tuesday.The case has major implications for the US central bank and its independence.”Investors are increasingly concerned about President Trump’s interference with the running of the US Federal Reserve,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial service firm Trade Nation.”This combination of tariff uncertainty, Fed concerns, and seasonal weakness left markets on edge as the month began,” Morrison said.The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to almost five percent.The dollar, however, rallied against the euro and British pound as French and UK government borrowing costs hit multi-year highs.France’s long-term borrowing cost jumped to its highest level since the eurozone debt crisis in 2011 as investors fret over a confidence vote next week that could topple the minority government.The yield on 30-year government bonds topped 4.5 percent ahead of Monday’s vote, which was called by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to settle a budget fight but which he is tipped to lose.The yield on 30-year UK government bonds hit the highest level since 1998 owing to worries over Britain’s struggling economy.On the corporate front, shares in Nestle retreated around 0.7 percent after the Swiss food giant sacked chief executive Laurent Freixe, citing a romantic relationship with a direct subordinate.- Key figures at around 2030 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 45,295.81 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,415.54 (close) New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.8 percent at 21,279.63 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 9,116.69 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 7,654.25 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 2.3 percent at 23,494.74 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 42,310.49 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 25,496.55 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,858.13 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1640 from $1.1711 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at 1.3394 at from $1.3545Dollar/yen: UP at 148.37 from 147.18 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.92 pence from 86.45 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $69.14 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 2.5 percent at $65.59 per barrelburs-jmb/dw

One of Japan’s best-known business people has resigned as CEO of beverage giant Suntory after police raided his house in an illegal drugs probe, the company and media reports said Tuesday.Takeshi Niinami, 66, was put under police investigation regarding “supplements he purchased under the belief that they were legal,” Suntory president Nobuhiro Torii told a news conference.Police searched Niinami’s house in August, but he has denied involvement, and no illegal drugs have been found, according to Jiji Press and other media.The company on Monday accepted Niinami’s “request to resign for personal reasons” following discussions after he returned to Japan, Torii said.Authorities will determine whether the supplements are illegal, Torii said, without giving further details of the case.However, he said Suntory concluded that Niinami’s actions “inevitably fall short of the qualities required” of CEO.Citing unnamed investigators, broadcaster Nippon TV said Niinami was suspected of importing products containing THC, an active ingredient in cannabis, from the United States.During the search Niinami reportedly told police that “a female acquaintance sent it to him unsolicited”.Niinami, who also serves as the head of the country’s business lobby, joined Suntory Holdings in 2014, after serving as CEO of convenience store chain Lawson.Suntory is known for its world-famous whisky and the company’s brands include Jim Beam bourbon, Laphroaig whisky and Courvoisier cognac.It acquired the US maker of Jim Beam for $16 billion, a few months before Niinami joined, to become one of the world’s biggest spirits makers.Niinami is known as a vocal business leader. He openly criticised Japan’s former biggest boyband agency following revelations about decades of sex abuse by its late founder in 2023.Japan has strict drug laws and possession can result in jail time. In 2024, the German-born former CEO of optical equipment firm Olympus was found guilty of a drug charge.In 2017, a German executive working at Volkswagen’s Tokyo office was arrested on suspicion of drug use.