Two-decade-long deflation and a record low-interest-rate environment are pushing Japanese mega-banks to diversify revenue sources out of lending into fee-based business – such as investment banking – and to expand abroad. Mizuho’s US investment banking arm – Mizuho Securities USA – is capitalising and growing on the back of both trends.
Mizuho Securities USA’s debt capital markets group has spearheaded the subsidiary’s growth. Within the space of four years, the lender has jumped up eight places in the bookrunner league table for US corporate deals to position 11 in mid-2015, according to Bloomberg. The subsidiary also made its name as a lead manager in the largest and second largest bond deals in history – Verizon’s $49bn trade and Actavis’s $21bn note.
