Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's largest brokerage, plans to shut down its European equity operations as it cuts costs after years of failing to become profitable overseas, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The Tokyo-based securities firm will shutter equity research, sales, trading and underwriting for European stocks, according to the source, who did not say how many jobs will be lost. An announcement of the move, along with job reductions in the Americas, may come as early as today, said the person, who asked not to be identified due to the private nature of the information.
Nomura, which had 3,433 employees in Europe and 2,501 in the Americas as of Dec. 31, has been considering overhauling its overseas businesses since Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai in February postponed a goal to earn ¥50 billion of pretax profit abroad. Nomura may dismiss about 20 percent of its workforce in North America, people with knowledge of the situation said last month.