Nomura is Japan’s number one arranger of equity and bond sales and also tops the rankings in Japanese M&A transactions. It possesses an enviable Japanese brokerage network and last year it earned more than the combined profit of its two biggest domestic rivals, Daiwa Securities and Nikko Cordial (15% owned by Citigroup).
On an international scale, however, it is often portrayed as an also-ran, with global rankings of 10th in share sales, 15th in bond underwriting and 24th in M&A, according to Bloomberg. Its profits are less than one-third of those of Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
