Nomura will cut hundreds of jobs, predominantly in equities and investment banking following the appointment of Koji Nagai as CEO, according to Reuters. The plans will be announced publically next month.
While Europe will take most of the hit Asia will also be impacted, though Nomura’s home market of Japan will not be a target for cuts. The aim of the restructuring is to shift the focus of the bank’s operations from EMEA to the US and Asia. As such, the bank has also announced a number of moves in Asia this week.
Rig Karkhanis has been promoted to the role of head of fixed income for Asia ex-Japan. He will continue to be based in Singapore and report locally to Minoru Shinohara, CEO for Asia ex-Japan, and regionally to Yutaka Nakajima, head of fixed income trading, Asia Pacific and Takashi Abiko, head of fixed income sales, Asia Pacific, as well as globally to Steve Ashley, global head of fixed income.
He joined Nomura in September 2010 as head of fixed income for Singapore, from Millennium Partners in Singapore where he was a portfolio manager. Before this he was head of rates and currencies sales and trading for the Pacific region at Merrill Lynch.
Karkhanis takes over from Jai Rajpal, who has been appointed global head of FX, based in London. Rajpal joined Nomura in 2008 as joint head of fixed income for Asia ex-Japan and was promoted to the sole head in March 2010. Before this he was head of fixed income for Singapore and Southeast Asia at Lehman Brothers.
Jon Linton will also join the bank as head of macro products for Australia. He will be based in Sydney and report to Yutaka Nakajima, senior managing director and head of fixed income trading for Asia Pacific.
Linton joins from RBS where he was head of fixed income trading for Australia. Before that he headed up the flow rates Euro business in London.
Daiwa in series of ECM cuts
Japanese investment bank Daiwa has let go of several senior bankers as it looks to scale down its equity operations in Asia.
Jackie Chien, head of equity syndicate for Asia ex-Japan and Jonathan Orders, head of equity capital markets (ECM) for the region, both left Daiwa last week. Oliver Nighjoy, head of equity-linked for Asia ex-Japan has also left. All three were based in Hong Kong, and joined in the last two years.
Orders joined in September 2010 from corporate finance advisory firm Asia Pacific Advisers, where he was a managing director. Before this, he was a managing director in the ECM division of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, a position he came to after a five year stint at HSBC, where he was initially head of ECM for Asia Pacific.
At Daiwa he reported to Kazuyoshi Mizukoshi, head of investment banking for Apac and Sumio Otsuka, co-head of global investment banking. Jackie Chien joined Daiwa in May last year from Citigroup, where she spent five years in the capital origination group. Before this she worked for J.P. Morgan.
Nighjoy joined the Japanese bank in April 2011, from Macquarie were he spent five years as managing director and head of equity linked for Asia. Before this he worked in Deutsche Bank’s convertible bond team in Hong Kong for five years. Both Nighjoy and Chien reported to Orders.
Valenzuela leaves Barclays, AM business launched
Adrian Valenzuela, head of equities liquid market distribution for the Asia Pacific region left Barclays last week after less than a year at the bank.
He joined the bank after eight months with J.P. Morgan, where he was global co-head of equities distribution.
At Barclays he was based in Hong Kong and covered equity execution for the region, including equity flow derivatives and cash equities.
In other news Barclays has set up an independent asset management (IAM) team in Singapore. Cedric Lizin has been appointed head of the IAM segment for Asia Pacific. He comes to the role from his current position as head of Japan and head of key clients for Asia Pacific at Barclays. He has worked for the bank since 2007, when he joined the wealth and investment division as chief operating officer (COO).
The team also comprises Annabelle Chow, the new director and team head, and Josephine Koh, director. Both joined Barclays in July, from Credit Suisse in Singapore, where they were team head and deputy team head at the bank’s asset management arm.
RBS hires Egan for Apac prime services role
William Egan is to join RBS as head of mandate sales for prime services in Asia Pacific. He will focus on prime broking mandates across FX, rates, flow credit and futures and options.
The announcement comes shortly after David Gray joined RBS in Hong Kong in June as head of prime services and client execution for Asia Pacific. Egan will be based in Singapore and report to Gray regionally. Functionally he will report to Fred Matt, global head of prime services sales, who is based in London.
Egan joins RBS from Barclays where he was a member of the bank’s prime services team in New York and most recently head of FX prime brokerage and OTC clearing in Singapore. He has also worked for Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, both in New York.
StanChart hires Manson from Deutsche
Alex Manson has joined Standard Chartered as group head of wholesale banking geographies. The role was effective August 13.
Manson reports to Mike Rees, group executive director and CEO of wholesale banking. He is based in London but will lead the Asia, Africa and Middle East teams.
He joins from Deutsche Bank where he was global head of corporate banking coverage and global lending, and head of global banking coverage in Asia Pacific. Before this he worked at Credit Suisse for seven years.
Huynh appointed head of GTRF at HSBC
HSBC has appointed Quang Buu Huynh as head of global trade and receivables finance (GTRF) for Asia Pacific, effective September 1. He will report to Simon Constantinides, regional head of GTRF for Asia Pacific and focus on Brunei, Japan, South Korea, Mauritius, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
He moves to the role from Vietnam, where he was head of commercial banking for Vietnam at HSBC and will now be based in Hong Kong. He joined HSBC in 1996.
Hardy joins BlackRock from Northern Trust
Kevin Hardy will become managing director and head of the Asia Pacific index equity team at BlackRock, effective from October.
He will be based in Hong Kong and replaces Jane Leung who was appointed head of iShares for Asia Pacific at the asset management firm in May.
Hardy moves from Northern Trust, where he was managing director and head of global investments for Asia Pacific, also based in Hong Kong. He will leave the firm in September. He joined Northern Trust in 2003, from State Street Global Advisors in London.
He will be temporarily replaced by William Mak, who is currently the country manager for Singapore and head of Southeast Asia.
Hwang rejoins Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse has rehired SJ Hwang as managing director and ultra high net worth (UHNW) segment head for private banking Asia Pacific. He started work on August 6 in Hong Kong, reporting to Yves-Alain Sommerhalder, head of UHNW solutions at the bank.
Hwang returned to the bank from his stint at Samsung Securities, where he was global head of equities and CEO of Samsung Securities Asia. He was only away from Credit Suisse for two years, having worked for the bank for sixteen years until 2010, in a variety of roles including co-head of equities for Asia ex-Japan.
No Fidelity for Tse
Joseph Tse has stepped down from asset manager Fidelity after 22 years with the firm. According to reports, he will not be seeking another similar role at a rival firm.
He will be replaced by Raymond Ma as fund manager of the offshore Greater China fund. Ma has been running the Fidelity China Consumer Fund since February 2011, and has been working for the asset management firm since 2006.
Suranjan Mukherjee has been appointed to manage the Asian Special Situations Fund, which was also managed by Tse. Mukherjee has been managing regional Asian equity portfolios since 2009, covering the Asia Pacific ex-Japan and Australia. He joined the company in 2004.
Manulife expands Singapore team
Manulife has made additions to both its fixed income and equity teams in Singapore. Rana Gupta joined the asset manager in July as a senior equity portfolio manager, from Fullerton Fund Management.
Asian fixed income portfolio manager Endre Pedersen has also moved from Hong Kong to the city state, though maintains the same role as head of the firm’s Asian multi-currency fixed income strategy. Both report to Jill Smith, senior managing director for Manulife in Singapore.
Lawrence Wee joined the firm earlier this year as head of institutional sales for South Asia. Yan Ling Loh also joined the Singapore team earlier this year, focusing on client servicing.
Smith new Apac managing director at CFA Institute
Global association of investment professionals CFA Institute has named Paul Smith the managing director of Asia Pacific operations. The change is effective October 3. He will take over from Ashvin Vibhakar, who will continue as a managing director at the company.
Smith has worked at HSBC and Bank of Bermuda over a 25-year banking career. Most recently he ran his own company, Asia Alternative Asset Partners.
Hogan joins RBC from Macquarie IM
Kevin Hogan has joined RBC Investor Services as director of client operations in Australia. He started in his new role on July 30, which is based in Sydney. He reports to Duncan White, head of client operations for the Asia Pacific region, and David Travers, managing director for Australia.
In his new role he will manage client operations including custody, fund administration and shareholder services. He joined the company from Macquarie Investment Management, where he was head of fund accounting. Before that he worked for Northern Trust and Deutsche Bank in Ireland. He has also worked at Schroders.
He replaces Yvonne Hurst who has moved to the firm’s London office.
Walkers relocates Granger to Singapore
Thomas Granger will move to the Singapore office of law firm Walkers, from Hong Kong, effective September. He joined the firm in July 2005 and became a partner in the global investment funds group in July 2010.
Before joining Walkers he worked for Minter Ellison in Hong Kong.