{
  "id": 13108343,
  "title": "Japan’s Prudential Life ordered to halt operations for over three months",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/japans-prudential-life-ordered-to-halt-operations-for-over-three",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-09T09:05:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Japan Times",
    "slug": "japan-times",
    "url": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/10/09/companies/prudential-business-suspension-order/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Financial Services Agency of Japan has imposed a partial business suspension on Prudential Life Insurance and Gibraltar Life Insurance, both subsidiaries of the U.S. Prudential Financial, for over three months. The suspension, in effect from Tuesday to the end of January 2027, prohibits the two insurers from entering into new insurance contracts or selling insurance products. This measure aims to allow the companies to focus on strengthening their management and oversight systems following fraud committed by their employees. The Financial Services Agency also issued a business improvement order to Prudential Holdings of Japan, the parent company, calling for stronger corporate governance. More than 100 current and former employees of Prudential Life are alleged to have improperly received a total of ¥3.1 billion ($19.6 million) from customers, leading to the resignation of former President Kan Mabara and an on-site inspection by the Financial Services Agency. A third-party investigation report revealed that the total losses reported by victims exceeded ¥6.1 billion, with a corporate culture that emphasizes excessive sales performance cited as a contributing factor. Prudential Life plans to review its compensation system, heavily reliant on sales performance commissions, and introduce a minimum guaranteed salary. The company's president and CEO, Hiromitsu Tokumaru, and two executives have agreed to voluntarily return 30% of their monthly remuneration for three months.",
  "summary": "The suspension order comes after numerous former and current employees were found in January to have improperly received ¥3.1 billion from customers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}