Nomura Holdings has ditched an effort to restart a proprietary trading desk in London after less than two years, according to people familiar with the matter.

Pamela Massaad Scott and Jacky Leung joined Nomura in London early last year and were tasked with making bets for the firm’s own account, a contentious practice that U.S. and European regulators restricted after the financial crisis. Massaad Scott reported directly to Nat Tyce, head of global markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the people said.

Nomura officials ultimately decided to fold the fledgling proprietary trading desk into other parts of the markets business earlier this year, some of the people said. Massaad Scott then left the bank in recent months, regulatory filings show.