Nidec Shares Sink 22% on Fears of Systemic Accounting Issues (2)

Nidec Corp.’s shares plunged a record 22% after the Japanese company found evidencethat senior executives may have been involved in a number of accounting issues at subsidiaries.

The Kyoto-based manufacturer of precision motors set up an external committee to investigate cases of improper accounting at the company. An internal probe into a payment of approximately ¥200 million ($1.4 million) by Nidec Techno Motor in Zhejiang spurred concern that group companies may have arbitrarily decided when to write down risky assets with management’s knowledge, necessitating an objective third-party probe, Nidec said.

The company shed roughly $5.5 billion in market ...