Citigroup, the global banking company, yesterday ousted three of its most senior executives in an attempt to restore its battered reputation in Japan.
The casualties included vice-chairman Sir Deryck Maughan, one of the few Britons to rise to the top of a major Wall Street firm.
Last month Japan's financial regulator ordered the closure of Citigroup's private bank for violation of banking laws.
Investigators said the bank failed to conduct proper checks against money laun dering, and they alleged fraud had taken place within the retail unit.
Chuck Prince, the group chief executive, has been stung by the scandal and other regulatory and legal problems in the past year; he has vowed to restore high ethical standards.
Sir Deryck, 56, the son of Durham coal miner, headed Citigroup's international division as well as being vice-chairman. He rose to prominence on Wall Street when Warren Buffett recruited him in 1992 to head Salomon Brothers in the wake of a bond trading scandal.
His career began at the Treasury, which he left in 1979 to join Goldman Sachs. Until yesterday he was regarded as one of Wall Street's great survivors, having stayed with Salomon through the mergers and acquisitions by which it metamorphosed into Citigroup.
In the process, Sir Deryck became a pillar of the New York establishment, sitting on the board of Carnegie Hall, the prestigious music venue. He is also a non-executive director of GlaxoSmithKline.
Citigroup made no comment on the departures. Instead, Mr Prince sent a five-sentence email to senior colleagues saying that Sir Deryck, Thomas Jones, head of investment management, and Peter Scaturro, who ran private banking, would be leaving. The memo gave no reason for the departures, even though all three were members of the Citigroup management committee.
As well as scandal in Japan, Citigroup has suffered from charges that it manipulated the bond market in Europe in an incident that is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority.
Last month, Tom Maheras, head of global capital markets, said the bank regretted the controversial £7bn bond trade that left rivals nursing heavy losses.