public. The publicly disclosed report is carefully censored so that the names of employees who committed wrongdoing or names of other companies which were involved in the scandal are deleted and their identities anonymised. What legal issues should companies be mindful of during this process? Attorney-client privilege is not generally recognised in Japan. In the voluntary investigation by the company’s special committee, interviews are often conducted with the directors and employees who were suspected to be involved in the fraud. Usually, a team of lawyers conducts these interviews. As the summaries of interviews are not protected by attorney-client privilege under Japanese law, the regulators could request these documents for their investigations. On the other hand, information regarding the company’s voluntary investigation could be protected in the civil or criminal proceedings by different theories. For example, lawyers have the right to refuse testimony in the civil or criminal proceedings under the confidentiality obligation to the client pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure or the Code of Criminal Procedure. The employee who was interviewed in the voluntary investigation by the committee may refuse to give evidence if it would incriminate themselves pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure or the Code of Criminal Procedure. Investigations concerning “greenwashing” are likely to become the next trend.
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