The Japanese brokerage firm Nomura Holdings plans to seek nearly half of a planned $1 billion in savings from cutting European and Middle Eastern operations, with the rest to come from the Americas and Asia.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that Nomura, after losing money for nine consecutive quarters in its four-year effort to go global, will be slashing jobs and operational expenses across the world. Europe will be the focus of the most cuts, since that is where the brokerage tallied its largest losses.
The firm had bought Lehman Brothers Holdings’ European and Asian units in 2008 and was determined to present a broader global presence, but with the takeover of the CEO slot by Koji Nagai from Kenichi Watanabe after an insider trading scandal in August, the plan is now to scale back.
In a presentation to investors, the firm said it planned to cut costs by $450 million in Europe and the Middle East, by $340 million in Asia, including Japan, and by $210 million in the Americas. Job cuts will account for some 45% of the $1 billion total, and operational expenses will make up the difference.