Tokyo Barrister: Start the law firm bankruptcy

Chapter 859 Confrontation

Shareholders of Nippon Steel?! Tanimoto didn't react to what Kitahara meant for a moment. Not only Tanimoto, but also the financial director Nagai behind the lawyer didn't understand the meaning of these words.

Kitahara smiled and took out a stack of documents from his hand. "This stack of documents in my hand is the shareholding certificate issued by the securities firm. More than one hundred workshop contractors present here all hold listed circulating shares of Nippon Steel. In other words, all my clients present here are shareholders of Nippon Steel's listed companies."

"According to the Company Law, shareholders have the right to know and can inquire about the board of directors, shareholders' meeting resolutions, financial reports, and accounting books, and entrust third parties including lawyers and accountants to assist in the inquiry. In this regard, on behalf of the above-mentioned more than 100 shareholders, I formally make a request to Nippon Steel!"

Kitahara's words were like thunder.

Tanimoto was stunned. He didn't expect that the lawyer in front of him could actually...actually do this. He turned more than a hundred creditors into shareholders, and then used the shareholders' right to know to track down the company's valuable assets. This move...is really comparable to the Trojan Horse's siege strategy!

Nagai behind him was also dumbfounded.

Faced with this sudden change of identity, from a creditor to a shareholder, it was really too unexpected. Nippon Steel is a listed company and must disclose all kinds of information in accordance with the law. If shareholders really request to inquire about these resolutions and financial reports, the company cannot give a legitimate reason to refuse!

The lawyer on the other side had a very clear idea.

Determine the company's operating actions by checking important resolutions.

Then, based on business operations, we conduct accounting audits to lock down the flow of funds.

Hearing that these workshop contractors were actually trying to disrupt the situation as shareholders at this critical juncture, Nagai panicked. Now was an important time to finalize the financing plan, and it absolutely could not be ruined by these small business owners who contracted the workshops!

Tanimoto took the stack of securities documents from Kitahara and quickly flipped through them. As a business lawyer, he was naturally very familiar with these documents.

As he kept turning the pages, Tanimoto's expression became more and more ugly.

These so-called "shareholders" simply bought one or two shares at random in the market.

It is obvious at first glance that this is just a strategic operation aimed at protecting shareholders' right to know.

"Lawyer Kitahara!" Tanimoto couldn't help but raise his voice, "What you are doing is simply gangster behavior! You are taking advantage of legal loopholes! You workshop contractors are not shareholders of the company at all!!"

"How can they not be shareholders of the company?" Kitahara's smile became more serious. "No matter how big or small the share is, shareholders are shareholders. My clients hold shares of Nippon Steel at this moment, so they are shareholders. They are legitimate shareholders recorded in the company's shareholder register!!"

Tanimoto found that he had actually underestimated the young man in front of him.

This guy called Kitahara could actually speak such shameless words so righteously. This young man in front of me is really...

Tanimoto saw that Nagai looked a little flustered and knew that the director had been frightened by the lawyer on the other side. So he immediately winked at Nagai to calm him down. Then, Tanimoto said to Kitahara:

"The law clearly stipulates that if a shareholder makes an inquiry with improper purposes, the company can completely reject the shareholder's inquiry request. As a small contractor of the company, you purchased such a small number of shares. It is obvious that you are abusing the shareholder's right to know! We will never agree to your request!"

"Can you explain what an improper purpose is?" Kitahara replied immediately. "Excuse me, what is improper about our purpose? As a small contractor in the company's workshop, we are not a competitor of Nippon Steel. We do not have conflicting business interests. In this case, what basis do you have to infer that our purpose is improper?!"

"Your purpose is not to improve the company's management interests for shareholders!" Tanimoto retorted forcefully, "You are not really looking up company information with the mentality of a shareholder. You are just exercising the so-called 'right to know' with the mentality of an outsider who wants to spy on the company's financial secrets!!"

This is the first time the two sides have met.

Tanimoto knew that he must not let the other party gain the upper hand, otherwise he might fall into a passive situation.

"Lawyer Tanimoto," Kitahara asked, "I want to know if the bank, as your creditor, asks to review your important company resolutions, business contracts, and accounting books. Would you agree or not?"

An extremely simple question.

A question that goes without saying.

There appear to be two options.

But there is only one.

Of course the company will agree to the bank's request.

After all, according to the requirements of most loan contracts, banks have the right to conduct financial inspections. Banks can monitor the use of funds by borrowers, conduct spot checks on the accounting status of enterprises, and require borrowers to cooperate and provide relevant documents. If not, the bank will require the borrower to repay the loan in advance.

Simply put, if the company does not cooperate with the inspection, the bank will withdraw its loans.

Therefore, the company will of course agree to the bank's request.

Faced with Kitahara's question, Tanimoto was unable to answer for a moment.

The scene fell into an awkward silence.

Then, Kitahara's voice rang out: "Of course you will agree to the bank's request, right? This is a routine operation of bank loans. So here comes the question. Lawyer Tanimoto, you said that we are contractors, so the purpose is improper. Then why can you accept the bank's doing this?"

"In other words, we should use the heavy to illustrate the light." Beiyuan said, "Since the bank can do these things as a creditor, then we contractors are also creditors of the company and shareholders. Our request for inspection is even more justified!"

In the lobby of Nippon Steel's headquarters.

A young lawyer and a top lawyer from the 200-meter club went head to head.

Tanimoto had not expected that this young man named Kitahara would be so difficult to deal with. They had done a lot of homework before coming to the Nippon Steel headquarters for today's visit.

Tanimoto is a senior lawyer after all.

In the current unfavorable situation, he said, "Lawyer Beiyuan, no matter how aggressive you are today, the law does not require the company to respond to shareholders' requests for access on the spot. Our company will review your request and respond to you after the procedure is completed."

(End of this chapter)