YOKOHAMA (dpa-AFX) - French auto maker Renault SA (RNSDY.PK, RNSDF.PK, RNT.L) has urged Nissan Motor Co. to call a meeting of its shareholders after the Japanese company and its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, were indicted on allegations of financial misconduct, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Thierry Bolloré, deputy CEO of Renault, reportedly sent a letter dated December 14 to Nissan's CEO Hiroto Saikawa asking for a meeting to be called 'as promptly as practicable.' Renault owns 44% of Nissan.
'The indictment creates significant risks to Renault, as Nissan's largest shareholder, and to the stability of our industrial alliance,' Bolloré wrote in the letter. 'We believe a shareholder forum would be the best manner of addressing these matters in an open and transparent fashion.'
Tensions in the Franco-Japanese partnership have surfaced since the November 19 arrest of Carlos Ghosn, leaving the alliance without the leader who held the two sides together for decades. Ghosn was indicted in Japan for understating his income after a months-long investigation by Nissan.
A preliminary probe by Renault found last week that Ghosn's compensation at the French carmaker complied with French law.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX