The Financial Times raised questions in its lead editorial Tuesday about whether financial authorities are being even-handed in their arrest of investment fund chief Yoshiaki Murakami for suspected insider trading.
"Obviously, that does not excuse wrongdoing. But where it has occurred, it should be pursued systematically, not selectively," the London-based paper said in the editorial titled "Japan's watchdogs bare their teeth."
While praising the stepped-up crackdown on financial misdeeds, it said that if Japanese authorities are to establish a transparent rules-based system, they need to adhere to clear principles: "punishment must fit the crime" and "justice must be seen to be even-handed."