Nomura to cut London jobs in $1bn shake up
JAPANESE bank Nomura’s equities and investment banking businesses are facing major cuts over the next two years as it tries to slash costs globally.
It hopes to trim $1bn (£627m) off its cost base in the departments by the end of 2014, with roughly $450m of those hitting Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The Japanese bank has roughly 4,000 staff in Europe, more than half of whom are based in London – which will inevitably bear much of the pain from the shake-up.
Around half of the savings, coming to approximately $225m in EMEA, will come from job losses and reduced hiring.
Much of the top brass at Nomura resigned in July over an insider trading scandal, with Koji Nagai taking over from Kenichi Watanabe as chief executive.
At the time analysts warned that Nagai’s appointment could put the brakes on the bank’s global ambitions – Watanabe had led a vigorous expansion, typified by the purchase of Lehman Brothers’ Asian and European assets, exposing the bank to Europe’s crisis.
But Nomura insisted it is simply refocusing its efforts on higher growth areas of the business around the world, rather than scaling back its ambitions, pointing to recent success in areas including fixed income and natural resources.