Prudential Life Insurance fraud scandal and restructuring

Prudential Life Insurance has disclosed a massive fraud scandal involving widespread financial misconduct that spanned over 30 years. An investigation revealed that structural and management issues, such as a compensation system heavily reliant on performance, facilitated fraudulent activities. These included soliciting funds for fictitious high-interest deposits and misrepresenting the company’s involvement in a laundry business, resulting in approximately 6.16 billion yen in damages to customers.

In response to the misconduct, the company has disciplined 157 individuals, including dismissals. To prevent recurrence, Prudential Life Insurance plans to fundamentally restructure its sales operations by reducing its branch count from 139 to between 40 and 50. The company also intends to overhaul its compensation model by introducing a minimum guaranteed salary and increasing the weight of after-sales service in remuneration to approximately 20%. Furthermore, the company will implement AI-driven recording of client meetings to enhance transparency. President Hiromitsu Tokumaru and two other executives have agreed to return 30% of their monthly compensation for three months as a measure of responsibility.