April 10, 2009

Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T: Quote, Profile, Research) has hired five equity derivatives traders and salesmen from Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for its New York office, according to records from securities industry regulator FINRA.The five will help expand Nomura's business in the United States, two people familiar with the plans said.Nomura, which has about 1,000 staff in its Americas business out of 26,000 globally, is seeking to capitalize on its recent acquisition of Lehman Brothers' European and Asian business.

The U.S. hires come as the brokerage attempts to tackle employee concerns over pay disparity and job security since the acquisition. In the run-up to Japan's bonus season, there are expectations that many of the 8,000 or so Lehman staff may quit or be axed A Nomura spokesman declined comment on the hires and did not provide staff numbers for its investment banking unit in the New York office.Records from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority show Brian Bier, Thomas Bonville, Dmitriy Genkin, Steven Moses and Samir Patel all joined Nomura from Bank of America within the last month.