The president of Japanese insurer Nissan Fire & Marine, Ryutaro Sato, is to step down on 31 January 2002, to take responsibility for the company's massive losses on reinsurance contracts related to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US.
Vice president Yukiyoshi Doi will succeed Sato, who will become a company adviser.
Doi, 59, joined Nissan Fire in 1965. He took the vice president post last June.
The company added that Hirotoshi Oishi, senior managing director in charge of reinsurance operations, had stepped down from his post.
Nissan Fire also admitted that it had an insufficient system for checking risks. It said it would take measures, such as reforming administration and setting up an in-house committee, to strengthen risk-management systems.
Nissan Fire had signed a considerable number of reinsurance contracts with primary insurers that underwrote the risks of companies damaged by the attacks in New York and Washington.
On 6 December 2001, it said it had incurred losses of ¥74.4bn (£390m) as a result of the attacks.
It is expected to report a net loss of about ¥21.5bn (£112.7m) for the current business year to 31 March 2002.
