Three Nomura Securities shareholders who filed a lawsuit against former executives of the brokerage for compensation over their alleged involvement in illegal payoffs to a "sokaiya" corporate extortionist agreed to a 380 million yen out-of-court settlement Tuesday.The investors filed three damages suits against the former Nomura executives in May, July and August, alleging that their involvement in paying off extortionist Ryuichi Koike caused enormous financial damage to the company.Of the six defendants, three -- former President Hideo Sakamaki, 63, and former directors Nobutaka Fujikura, 56, and Shinpei Matsuki, 54, -- are currently on trial, charged with alleged violations of the Commercial Code and the Securities and Exchange Law over the payoffs.In the civil suit, Sakamaki and Fujikura acknowledged their legal responsibility for triggering the payoff scandal, while Matsuki partially admitted that he is legally responsible. The other three defendants, who have not been criminally charged, accepted moral responsibility for the payoffs.The plaintiffs claimed that the company lost 370 million yen in payments to Koike and 57 million yen from losing Nomura's position as the head of a syndicate for underwriting local government bonds when the scandal broke.Of the 380 million yen that the executives agreed to pay, 200 million yen will be divided among the six defendants to be paid by Nov. 30, according to the agreement. The three top executives on trial will pay the remaining 180 million yen in installments over the next 20 years.
