Nomura Holdings, wannabe global banking giant, is tearing through its “to do” list. Just 10 months after acquiring Lehman Brothers' European and Asian businesses, Japan's dominant brokerage is now the third biggest broker on the London Stock Exchange. It is setting up in Saudi Arabia and trouncing the competition in Asia, outside of Japan. As befits its desired status, Nomura is also upping sticks from nouveau Canary Wharf to the blue-blooded City of London.
All this comes at a price. Nomura spent $1.7bn on compensation and benefits in the first quarter of 2009, double the figure from the year before, and substantially higher than net revenues, largely to keep Lehman staffers on side. Headcount was 25,600 at the end of March, up 42 per cent over the year. Remaining items on the agenda are more conventional – and perhaps less rewarding. The group wants to build a global prime brokerage business. This has been an unexpected sweet spot for some as erstwhile leaders such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs temporarily fell out of favour with hedge funds at the height of the crisis. But now the US banks are recapitalised and back in play, competition is escalating. Old loyalties die hard, although by starting from scratch Nomura could design a model that pleases both participants and regulators.
Next up is a Chinese joint venture. But an investment banking tie-up with Rothschild in Europe came to little; nor is China the El Dorado it is often made out to be. This year UBS, China's top foreign earner, pulled in just $43m in fees, according to Dealogic. As any of the other few foreign banks with Chinese licences know, it is a long haul to get even there. Vaulting ambition can o'erleap itself, as Shakespeare's Macbeth said – or just run into the sand.