Venezuelan bond raid: Nomura picks up $100m of government debt at a fraction of its face value

Japanese investment bank Nomura bought $100m (£78m) of Venezuelan government bonds this week as part of the same deal that landed Goldman Sachs in political hot water.

Nomura paid around $30m for the debt, according to overnight reports in the Wall Street Journal.

The discount is similar to that paid by Goldman Sachs. The US bank attracted criticism from Venezuelan politicians after it bought $2.8bn of bonds. The president of the country’s opposition-run national assembly accused the Wall Street lender of “aiding and abetting the country’s dictatorial regime”.

Read more: Venezuela’s oil production is on the brink of collapse

Goldman Sachs responded by saying its asset-management arm acquired the bonds “on the secondary market from a broker and did not interact with the Venezuelan government”.

Venezuela’s opposition has urged international lenders to not help President Nicolas Maduro’s government by financing debt. Maduro has drawn international condemnation for abuses of power and human rights violations.

On Tuesday, Venezuela’s national assembly voted to appeal to US Congress for it to probe the Goldman Sachs deal.

Read more: Corbyn’s beloved Venezuela is sinking further into the socialist abyss