Free Republic

The vice-president of HS Securities, which was involved in corporate takeover deals by internet firm Livedoor, has been found dead. Police suspect that the executive, Hideaki Noguchi, 38, committed suicide. HS Securities was among the companies raided by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office in connection with investigations into alleged fraudulent practices by Livedoor and its group of companies. The Tokyo-based securities house is led by Hideo Sawada, founder of major travel agency H.I.S. Company.

Selling stampede shuts down Tokyo stock market By Linda Sieg and Yukari Iwatani 7 minutes ago A stampede of sell orders forced the shut-down of the world's second-biggest bourse on Wednesday as investors fled the Tokyo stock market, spooked by fallout from an investigation into Internet company Livedoor Co. (4753.T). The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended trading at 0540 GMT (2.40 p.m.), 20 minutes before the normal closing time, after the number of transactions threatened to exceed its computer system's capacity of 4.5 million trades per day. The exchange has been hit by a series of system problems in recent months,...