On 19 November 2018 Carlos Ghosn, head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors auto alliance, is arrested by Japanese authorities on suspicion of underreporting his income by half over the last five years. Nissan and Mitsubishi announce they will remove him as chair of their boards. An interim CEO is appointed by Renault, in which the French government owns 15% as shareholder. In December additional charges are announced, that of aggravated breach of trust as Ghosn is accused of transferring personal investment losses of €14.5 million to Nissan amidst global financial crisis in 2008. It highlights ongoing corporate governance challenges among corporations in Japan, including lack of independent oversight for executive pay. It also highlights tension between Nissan and the French Government since the latter in 2015 increased its stake in Renault, in order to secure double voting rights as shareholder.
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