Is there something fishy going on?
Nomura Holdings, Japan's largest investment bank, said the country's securities industry watchdog is investigating one of the company's workers over insider-trading allegations.
The employee, in Nomura's mergers and acquisitions department, leaked information about deals the firm worked on to two people, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. The two made a 50 million yen ($485,000) profit from trading on the information, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information.
Government officials urged a thorough investigation of the alleged conduct at Nomura, which was the top-ranked adviser for Japanese takeovers last year.
Competitor Daiwa Securities SMBC, the nation's second-largest investment bank, was forced to suspend some operations for a day after two former bankers were indicted for illegal trading in 2003.
“Clients might possibly leave Nomura, as overseas institutional investors in particular are strict about this kind of behavior,” said Shoichi Arisawa, an Osaka-based manager at Iwai Securities. “It's bad for Nomura to hurt the reputation of its advisory business, which is otherwise promising.”
Nomura fell 3.5 percent to 1,645 yen in Tokyo trading, while the benchmark Topix index declined 1.1 percent.
“Nomura deeply regrets this,” company spokesman Michiyori Fujiwara said in Tokyo, where the firm is based. “We will cooperate fully with the inspection.”
Fujiwara declined to comment on details of the allegations. A spokesman for the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission wasn't available to comment.
“It's always bad if a securities firm employee uses inside information for personal gain,” Yoshimi Watanabe, the minister for financial services, said at a regular press briefing. “We'll have to deal with this strictly.”
The 30-year-old worker being investigated was recently transferred to Nomura's Hong Kong unit, the Yomiuri said, without naming the employee or any of the companies involved.
The two people who received information used it to trade shares in more than 20 companies from 2006 to 2007, including a company targeted for acquisition by a large semiconductor component maker, the Yomiuri reported.
“It is deplorable that such an incident should take place,” Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo. “I would like the oversight committee to investigate thoroughly.”
Nomura ranked first among financial advisers on Japanese mergers and acquisitions last year, advising on 147 transactions totaling $28.9 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company has slipped to third place this year behind UBS AG and Goldman Sachs Group, Bloomberg data shows.
Will this scandal cause Nomura to fall even further in the rankings?
The employee, in Nomura's mergers and acquisitions department, leaked information about deals the firm worked on to two people, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. The two made a 50 million yen ($485,000) profit from trading on the information, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information.
Government officials urged a thorough investigation of the alleged conduct at Nomura, which was the top-ranked adviser for Japanese takeovers last year.
Competitor Daiwa Securities SMBC, the nation's second-largest investment bank, was forced to suspend some operations for a day after two former bankers were indicted for illegal trading in 2003.
“Clients might possibly leave Nomura, as overseas institutional investors in particular are strict about this kind of behavior,” said Shoichi Arisawa, an Osaka-based manager at Iwai Securities. “It's bad for Nomura to hurt the reputation of its advisory business, which is otherwise promising.”
Nomura fell 3.5 percent to 1,645 yen in Tokyo trading, while the benchmark Topix index declined 1.1 percent.
“Nomura deeply regrets this,” company spokesman Michiyori Fujiwara said in Tokyo, where the firm is based. “We will cooperate fully with the inspection.”
Fujiwara declined to comment on details of the allegations. A spokesman for the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission wasn't available to comment.
“It's always bad if a securities firm employee uses inside information for personal gain,” Yoshimi Watanabe, the minister for financial services, said at a regular press briefing. “We'll have to deal with this strictly.”
The 30-year-old worker being investigated was recently transferred to Nomura's Hong Kong unit, the Yomiuri said, without naming the employee or any of the companies involved.
The two people who received information used it to trade shares in more than 20 companies from 2006 to 2007, including a company targeted for acquisition by a large semiconductor component maker, the Yomiuri reported.
“It is deplorable that such an incident should take place,” Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said at a regular press briefing in Tokyo. “I would like the oversight committee to investigate thoroughly.”
Nomura ranked first among financial advisers on Japanese mergers and acquisitions last year, advising on 147 transactions totaling $28.9 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company has slipped to third place this year behind UBS AG and Goldman Sachs Group, Bloomberg data shows.
Will this scandal cause Nomura to fall even further in the rankings?
posted by Charltonmedia.com @ 5:26 PM
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