Equities throughout Asia were almost uniformly down to end Monday, amid turbulence surrounding shares in electronics giant Samsung.
The Nikkei 225 Index dumped 192.04 points, or 1%, to end the week’s first session at 19,095.24, as shares of airbag maker Takata tumbled more than 8%.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slumped 219.23 points, or 1%, to 22,718.15
Samsung shares dropped on Monday after news that a South Korean special prosecutor will seek an arrest warrant for Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee for charges related to an influence-peddling scandal that involves President Park Geun-hye.
Shares for units of South Korea's largest conglomerate were down on Monday: the heavily-weighted Samsung Electronics was down 2.1%, Samsung Heavy Industries off 1%, Samsung Engineering plunged 3.4% and Samsung C&T lower by 0.8%
The special prosecutors office accused Lee of paying bribes to a close aide of President Park's Choi Soon-sil, totaling 43 billion won ($36.42 million U.S).
Prosecutors had been investigating whether Samsung's support for Choi was connected to a National Pension Service 2015 decision to support the controversial Samsung C&T-Cheil merger. The National Pension Service's chairman Moon Hyung-pyo was also indicted on charges of abuse of power and giving false testimony.
In Japan, Takata shares were down 10.6%, after the airbag maker reached a settlement agreement on Friday with the U.S. Department of Justice on an ongoing investigation.
Takata said it agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud for falsifying testing data and reports that were provided to automakers and would pay a criminal fine of $25 million U.S.
The company added it will establish a $125 million U.S. restitution fund for individuals affected by its faulty airbags and another $850 million restitution fund for automakers who received falsified testing data.
The yen fetched about 113.78 versus the U.S. dollar as of mid-afternoon local time, compared to levels above 116 in the previous week.
Shares of automakers Toyota plunged 0.8% Nissan was off by 0.6%, Honda was nearly flat and electronics giant Sony fell 1%
Nintendo shares extended Friday's loss of more than 5% to trade down 2.3%. The storied Japanese gaming giant released details about its upcoming next-generation gaming console - Nintendo Switch - last week, but investors were unimpressed by the higher-than-expected pricing.
Australian shares were up, as major resources producers gained more than 1% each, while the energy sector fell 0.3%.
Shares of Rio Tinto was up 1.8%, Fortescue climbed 2.9% and BHP Billiton advanced 1.7%. The Australian dollar traded at $0.748.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 hesitated 0.46 points to 3,319.45
At a meeting last Friday to gather opinions from experts and entrepreneurs for the draft of an annual government report, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China's economy is set to face more pressure and problems this year amid changes in global politics and economic challenges.
LeEco's Shenzhen-listed unit Leshi Informations fell 1.1%, paring back earlier gains of more than percent on news that property developer Sunac China Holdings would invest 6.04 billion yuan ($87.6 million U.S.) in Leshi, by acquiring an 8.6% stake.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi slid 12.62 points, or 0.6%, to 2,064.17
The Straits Times Index in Singapore dropped 11.95 points, or 0.4%, to 3,013.12
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index plummeted 86.5 points, or 0.9%, to 9,292.33
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 27.97 points, or 0.4%, to 7,074.94
Australia's ASX 200 regained 27.32 points, or 0.5%, at 5,748.44
