Olympus Corp President Shuichi Takayama (L) and accounting division's official Nobuyuki Onishi bow at the end of a news conference in Tokyo December 7, 2011.  [Photo/Agencies]

TOKYO, December 7 (Xinhua) -- The entire board of Japan's Olympus Corp. was signaled by its president Wednesday to quit at the next shareholders meeting which will convene as early as February for the cover-up of some about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars losses dating back to the 1990s.

The Japanese camera and medical equipment maker, which is embattled in a massive accounting fraud, also decided to set up an outside panel to investigate up to 70 people, including former and current board members, auditors, for their possible involvement in the scandal.

The panel is reported to be made up of such outsiders as former judges and accounting experts.

At Wednesday's press conference Takayama bowed in apology and read a third-party investigative report which was handed to the company's board on Tuesday.

"It's true as the report shows that our company covered up the losses of investment and released the unfaithful financial statement," President Shuichi Takayama said. "It reflected supervision loopholes in the our system. and I sincerely apologized for that."  

The company has said it would resort to legal steps including criminal complaints against those who were found responsible for the cover-ups.

The scandal-plagued company said it still making efforts to avoid being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The corporate scandal of the Tokyo-based Olympus was disclosed following the sacking of its former Chief Executive Michael Woodford, who blew the whistle.