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Olympus Corp. has launched a probe on the company's past M&A deals in a bid to pacify irate investors, reports Reuters.

The camera maker named six men, composed of a former Japanese supreme court justice, lawyers and an accountant, to investigate previous M&A deals. None of the six have had any previous association with the company.

The panel's chairman, Tatsuo Kainaka, who served as a supreme court justice for seven years, earlier this year led an investigation into the crash of cash machines operated by Japan's No.2 bank, Mizuho Financial Group.

Investors have been closely watching for any effort by Olympus to appoint investigators who may be sympathetic to their position.

"I won't be dealing with Olympus shares any longer until everything becomes clear," a fund manager told Reuters.

Southeastern Asset Management, the company's largest non-Japanese investor, wants Olympus to publish minutes of board meetings related to the payments. Southeastern said it wanted a former CFO of a major Japanese firm to join the review.
 
Olympus has so far declined the request.

Pressure on the firm to act has also come from Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda.

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