Ex-Sumitomo Copper Trader Gets Jail Term

A former trader at Sumitomo Corp. was sentenced to eight years in jail for racking up huge losses in unauthorized copper futures trading. Yasuo Hamanaka, who was said to have controlled 5% of the world’s copper market at one time, racked up $2.6 billion in losses over a 10-year period ending in 1995. Tokyo District Court officials confirmed the sentence, which was reported by major Japanese media. The disclosure of Hamanaka’s losses in 1996 roiled world copper markets, rocked the 300-year-old trading company and raised fresh questions about oversight at Japanese corporations. Hamanaka entered a guilty plea to the two charges against him on the opening day of his trial in February 1997.