Seibu Railway Co. did not hold a board of directors meeting for about seven years until this spring in violation of the Commercial Code, officials of the railway operator said Saturday.
The matter came to light following the group's recent scandals involving payoffs to "sokaiya" corporate racketeers and falsified financial statements regarding stakes held by large shareholders.
An advisory panel working on reforming the Seibu Railway group has not been informed of this matter, sources close to the group said, adding the panel is expected to begin pressing group officials for information.
According to the Seibu Railway officials, the company did not hold board meetings from July 1997, one year after then President Hiroyuki Toda assumed that post, to April this year when he stepped down after the payoff scandal became public knowledge.