Nissan Motor Co. threw cold water June 23 on bankrupt Nissan Mutual Life Insurance Co. by saying special treatment for Nissan Mutual employees applying to the automaker would not be provided.
Nissan Motor previously expressed readiness to accept some Nissan Mutual employees because the company has close ties with the insurer, but Yoshikazu Hanawa, president of Nissan Motor, said June 23 that his company itself is in the restructuring process. "We will hire people who match our requirements, but we don't automatically hire people just because they are employees of Nissan Mutual," Hanawa told reporters.
In late April, Nissan Mutual was ordered to suspend operations after it became clear it would be unable to continue operating due to a huge capital deficit. The Life Insurance Association of Japan last week announced a liquidation scheme that will create a new entity to take over its policies and write off an estimated 100 billion yen worth of the failed insurer's debts over a period of five years.
Nissan Motor and Hitachi Ltd., which once had financial links to Nissan Mutual, were previously approached about providing financial support to the troubled firm, but both companies rejected the requests. Commenting on the fact that one of Nissan Motor's executives is working as a part-time board member at Nissan Mutual and that he was unable to check on the insurer's management problems, Hanawa said there is a limit to what one can do as a part-time board member.
The president said the system of exchanging executives as part-time board members with closely tied companies is one that has often been practiced by Japanese firms, but such a system should be reviewed. Because Hanawa himself is a part-time board member of the Nissan Fire & Marine Insurance Co., he said he will consider resigning from the post.