Three directors have quit the Japanese camera-maker Olympus, which is embroiled¹ in one of the country's worst corporate² scandals.

日本相机生产商奥林巴斯的三位董事已经辞职，奥林巴斯日前陷入一场严重的公司丑闻。

The firm admitted covering up huge losses for decades after former boss Michael Woodford questioned massive payments made to consultants³.

Mr Woodford, who was sacked last month, has held a meeting with the board that he described as constructive⁴.

Shares in the company rose by 25% amid hope that the firm can avoid delisting（停止上市） .

Mr Woodford had questioned about $1.3bn (£840m) in advisory⁵ fees paid to obscure（模糊的） firms, as well as money spent on takeovers that was subsequently largely written off.

Olympus initially⁶ denied wrongdoing, but then admitted it had been covering up huge investment losses.

Chief's return?

Mr Woodford was able to attend the board meeting because he currently remains⁷ a director of the company.

The three former directors who will now not be present include Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who resigned as chairman last month, but until Thursday remained in a non-executive role.

The two other directors who have now stood down from the board are the firm's former vice⁸ president and former auditor⁹.

Olympus has until 14 December to file its latest six-month results or else be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Mr Woodford, who has the backing of several of Olympus' largest shareholders¹⁰, has said he would be prepared to return to the chief executive position.

However, most analysts¹² say it is unlikely that the Olympus board will reappoint him.

Analyst¹¹ Martin Schulz, from Tokyo-based Fujitsu Research Institute, told the BBC's Asia Business Report: "It will most likely be someone else who has been following the scandal [this is appointed the new chief executive].

"I would rather guess it will be someone from within the company, from the successful core of the company, which has a very high interest of getting this company going again."

The decision to sack Mr Woodford was taken unanimously（全体一致地） by the Olympus board.