Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp. plans to shutter its Chinese metal trading business after suspected fraud by one of its copper traders led to a loss of more than $90 million.
The company will stop buying and selling refined metals and mineral resources in the Chinese spot market and will no longer provide related services for local companies, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The change won’t impact Mitsubishi’s imports and exports on behalf of Chinese clients managed from outside the country, they said.
Mitsubishi announced a ¥13.8 billion loss "in its Chinese trading business” in its quarterly earnings in November. It confirmed in December, following a Bloomberg report, that the hit — $92 million at the prevailing exchange rate — was due to a Shanghai-based trader, whom it had since dismissed.
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