NOMURA Holdings Inc.’s ranking in the corporate bond market remains under pressure after its reputation was hit by a market manipulation scandal at a time of greater scrutiny of governance breaches in Japan.
Japan’s biggest brokerage saw its position fall to sixth place in November and its market share shrink to 2.1%, the latest data compiled by Bloomberg shows, with online brokerage SBI Holdings Inc. leapfrogging over its larger rival.
Nomura’s reputation has taken a hit after it admitted to a bond market manipulation in October and following charges brought against a former employee in November on suspicion of robbery, arson and attempted murder of an elderly couple during a customer visit.
It is the first time since June 2019 that Nomura has not figured in the top 5 arrangers in Japan’s monthly league tables.
Japan’s securities watchdog revealed its findings of market manipulation over the government bond on Sept. 25, and several Japanese issuers started excluding Nomura as a lead manager. Two months later, Nomura still faces the aftermath as KDDI Corp. and others did not appoint it as an arranger for their debt offerings last month.
In 2023, Nomura was ranked third among underwriters for Japanese corporate bonds with a market share of 19%.
Nomura’s experience contrasts with that of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., which committed a similar violation in 2018. The drop in its market share was relatively small compared with Nomura. It fell to about 11% in August, two months after the case was announced in June 2018, from around 27% in May.
Issuers and market investors have become increasingly sensitive to working with financial institutions which were found to breach rules, said Yumiko Miwa, a professor at Meiji University who studies corporate governance.
KDDI raised ¥210 billion ($1.4 billion) by selling bonds in November, and Nomura wasn’t appointed to manage the deal. SoftBank Group Corp. sold ¥350 billion of bonds, and unlike in previous transactions, Nomura was not a lead manager in the offering.
Nomura’s Tokyo-based spokesman declined comment on the matter. A representative at KDDI also declined to comment on details of the selection process for managers, while SoftBank’s corporate communication office said in an email that “lead managers are selected based on their proposal, including the amount they wish to sell.”
Last month, Nomura added “criminal acts by officers and employees against customers” as a new risk to its business after the indictment of the former employee suspected of robbery, arson and attempted murder.
Still, mega-banks and life insurers have gradually resumed business with Nomura for market trading operations after it announced that it completed paying a fine and tightened its internal control system in October. –BLOOMBERG