Olympus names Hiroyuki Sasa as President

CALIFORNIA, USA: Olympus Corp plans to promote executive officer Hiroyuki Sasa as president in April, the Japanese business daily the Nikkei said.

Sasa, who has worked as head of development as well as marketing at subsidiary Olympus Medical Systems Corp, will be appointed president on April 20 on his approval as director at an extraordinary shareholders meeting the same day, the paper reported.

Battered by an accounting scandal, Olympus believes rebuilding efforts will be better served by tapping an insider well-versed in its mainstay medical equipment business, the business daily said.

Earlier this month, Japanese police and prosecutors arrested seven men, including former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa and ex-bankers over a $1.7 billion accounting fraud.

Last month, Olumpus had announced that Shuichi Takayama would step down as president to take responsibility for the company's cover-up of investment losses, the Nikkei reported.

An in-house nominating committee subsequently launched a search for his replacement, considering both internal and outside candidates, the daily said.

The new chairman is expected to be from main lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, the paper reported.

The board is also set to be overhauled, with independent directors to constitute more than half of the members, the business daily said.