Overview

• On July 22, the Tokyo District Court convicted five former SMBC Nikko Securities executives—including ex-vice president Toshihiro Sato and ex-equity head Makoto Yamada—for using block offer trades to prop up end-of-day stock prices outside normal trading hours.
• Sentences ranged from one year and six months to three years in prison, all suspended with probation periods of three to five years.
• Prosecutors presented evidence that the defendants placed large off-hours buy orders to prevent price declines and ensure block offer transactions were not cancelled.
• The defense argued the purchases were standard investment plays based on expected price gains, a justification the court rejected as lacking stabilizing intent.
• These rulings follow a February 2023 judgment that imposed a suspended term on another SMBC Nikko executive and fined the firm nearly ¥52 billion, underscoring intensifying enforcement of market manipulation laws.