Nomura Holdings, which bought the Asian and European businesses of Lehman Brothers Holdings, is all set to commence trading commodities abroad for the first time using people hired from the failed investment bank, to benefit from a 36% surge in raw material prices this year– reported Bloomberg.
It has been reported that Nomura is spending about $2 billion to recruit 8,000 workers in equities and investment banking. The Japan-based brokerage is expected to offer derivatives on materials ranging from crude oil to natural gas and industrial metals. Reportedly, the commodities will be traded from offices in Singapore and London.
Katsuyuki Hasegawa, chief market analyst at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo, commented: “Nomura’s potential strength in commodities is having former Lehman staff and client networks. Demand is expected to increase in emerging countries such as China, which will help expand business opportunities,” reported the news agency.
Masahiko Kamio, head of commodity trading at Nomura Securities, said that the commodity expansion would focus on hedging products and investment products. “Our strength lies in offering comprehensive services as a brokerage in cooperation with other business units. We want to differentiate ourselves from competitors so that we can demonstrate our strength in selected commodities,” he added.
