Nomura Holdings Inc has cut 18 Asian banking jobs, most of them China-focused investment roles, following a sharp slowdown in dealmaking activity, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Japan’s top brokerage and investment bank last week fired bankers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan because they were not authorized to speak to the media, the sources said.
A separate source with knowledge of the matter said the cuts were not limited to Asia, but would also affect Nomura’s international investment banking operations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The source gave no further details.
Nomura acknowledged the reduction in staff numbers in a statement but did not comment on locations or the number of individuals affected.
“2022 sees a significant decline in the global investment banking fee pool and as a result, we have had to reduce headcount in certain areas,” the statement said.
One of the two sources said the layoffs include employees from several divisions within Nomura’s investment banking function, which follows a year of muted dealmaking activity in the area.
The bank, which has long struggled to expand its business outside Japan, advised $3.42 billion in equity capital markets deals across the Asia Pacific region last year, according to Refinitiv data, including its home base in Japan. Also included was a sharp decline from the $9.4 billion in 2021.
In each of the bank’s business divisions for equity capital markets, debt capital markets, corporate finance and Southeast Asia coverage, two to three workers were made redundant, according to two sources.
The second source said the cuts are “very China-centric” and affect about one-quarter of China’s headcount.
These include some bankers covering the Greater China equity capital market, the sources said, and are likely to affect the bank’s ability to operate in that area of investment banking.
Many global banks are trimming their Asia headcount due to volatile global markets and a sluggish China that ended last month after regulatory action and three years of COVID 19-related lockdowns and restrictions.
Goldman Sachs last week laid off more than 3,000 people across its global workforce, with the investment banking and global markets division among the worst hit.
Nomura said in November that it was unhappy with its latest profit performance. Pretax income for its wholesale division, which includes its trading and investment banking businesses, fell 19% year-on-year in the three months ended September.
The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification. Only the headline has been changed.
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