Shigeru Echigo, an employee of Deutsche Bank’s Japanese brokerage unit has been arrested for suspected bribery as the Asian country’s securities watchdog recommended penalties against the firm for excessive entertainment spending.

Shigeru Echigo, an employee of Deutsche Bank’s Japanese brokerage unit has been arrested for suspected bribery as the Asian country’s securities watchdog recommended penalties against the firm for excessive entertainment spending.

Echigo, a director of Deutsche Securities Inc.’s pension solution sales department, is suspected of entertaining a client at a Mitsui & Co. unit in exchange for purchases of investment products, a Tokyo police official was quoted as saying by the news service. Echigo was not identified in the statement. A former Mitsui pension executive was also detained.

The unit violated Japanese rules by providing special benefits to three pensions, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said in a statement.

“The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission issued today a recommendation that the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the FSA shall take administrative action against Deutsche Securities Inc,” the organisation said in a statement on its website.

Bribes of Y3.94 million (around $39,000), Y1.43 million and Y0.9 million were provided to pension funds, the Japanese regulator said. The offences spanned a period from October 2010 to December 2012.

The Bloomberg report said Deutsche Securities would be the first brokerage in Japan to be punished for client spending if the Financial Services Agency adopts the SESC’s proposal.

The former Mitsui pension executive who was arrested is Yutaka Tsurisawa, 60, the police official said. Echigo, 36, allegedly spent about Y900,000 entertaining him with trips abroad, rounds of golf, and wine and meals from late April to late August 2012, the report said.

WealthBriefing is in contact with [tag|Deutsche Bank|]Deutsche Bank[/tag] about the matter but hadn’t received a response at the time of going to press.