Citing multiple unnamed sources, the paper said that when Ghosn's bank had called for more collateral from the executive, he instead handed the rights over the derivatives trade to Nissan, which effectively shouldered 1.7 billion yen ($15 million) in losses.
Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) discovered this incident during that year's routine inspection, the Asahi said.
Nissan said it could not comment on the report. An SESC spokesman said the watchdog could not comment on individual cases.
Ghosn is being held in detention in Tokyo after his arrest last week for financial misconduct, including allegedly understating his income for years. He has denied those allegations, public broadcaster NHK has reported.
Ghosn, who was unanimously voted out as chairman of Nissan last week, was also ousted as chairman of alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp on Monday.