Layoffs Watch '12: Nomura

The firm has big plans to "rebuild the investment bank from the ground up," starting by canning a few hundred or so employees.

Nomura Holdings is finalising plans to cut hundreds of jobs, mainly in equities and investment banking, in an overhaul aimed at restoring its overseas operations to profitability, people with knowledge of the planning within Japan's largest brokerage said. The cost-cutting will be part of a new strategic blueprint for Nomura being mapped out by Koji Nagai, who took over as CEO this month and has promised to rebuild the investment bank from the "ground up" after an insider trading scandal that forced the resignation of its top two executives. While the size and scope of the streamlining are still being debated, one analyst estimated Nomura could target $750 million in annual cost savings, on top of a nearly completed $1.2 billion cost-cutting drive. The plan will be made public early next month, according to people with knowledge of the matter who declined to be identified ahead of an official announcement.

[Reuters]