Nomura pulls out of London gilts

Nomura today pulls out of gilts market making in London, significantly increasing the pace of retreat by the top Japanese houses from their ambitions to become leading players in the City.

Along with Daiwa and Yamaichi, Nomura has been conducting a detailed review of its European operations in recent months, with a view to saving money by closing down weak areas.

The cuts mark a severe setback to the Japanese plans to develop into global investment houses able to compete with the Americansand some of the biggest continental players, notably the Swiss.

Nomura had announced last week the closure of its government bond market trading in Paris. The London operations will now concentrate on serving Japanese clients, engaging in limited proprietary trading in bonds, equities and foreign exchange.