Hyakujushi Bank Chairman to Resign for Ignoring Harassment

October 30, 2018

Takamatsu- Hyakujushi Bank Chairman Tomoki Watanabe will step down to take responsibility for failing to stop a client from behaving inappropriately toward a female employee of the regional bank.

Watanabe, 66, will also give up his role as a board member and will become consultant, effective on Thursday, bank officials said.

According to the Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture-based bank, a female employee was subjected to inappropriate behavior by a male client at a dinner hosted by Watanabe in February.

The bank carried out an in-house inquiry in May after finding out about the incident.

In June, it decided to impose pay and bonus cuts on Watanabe and a male executive officer who was also present at the dinner.

Watanabe offered to resign late this month following a lawyer's advice, and his resignation was decided at the bank's extraordinary board meeting on Sunday. Watanabe's decision to have the female employee present at the dinner in the first place was regarded as problematic, according to the officials.

Yasuyuki Ota, head of the bank's public relations and corporate social responsibility group, apologized for the incident but declined to disclose details of the inappropriate behavior.

After joining Hyakujushi Bank in 1974, Watanabe assumed such posts as senior managing director before becoming president in June 2009 and chairman in April 2017.

He also serves as head of the Takamatsu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Jiji Press