Nomura Sets London Job Toll at 1,000

Nomura reportedly plans to slash 1,000 London jobs, or about 20 percent of its staff there, as it integrates its purchase of Lehman Brothers' European operations.

The Financial Times reports about two-thirds of the cuts will involve Lehman employees. About 3,000 Lehman equities and investment banking professionals joined Nomura through the purchase, which came in the wake of Lehman's Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing in the U.S. Nomura itself employed 1,500 people in London before the Lehman deal.

"We clearly had some overlap with our existing operations," Nomura spokesman Paul Abrahams told the FT. "Also, given the market conditions, we owe it to our shareholders to ensure we have the right cost base going forward."

Former Lehman executives have been placed in charge of Nomura investment banking, equities and fixed income businesses in Europe.

Under employment law, Nomura was obliged to take on most of the Lehman staff who worked in or supported the divisions it bought, the FT says. Meanwhile, Nomura executives reportedly will account for most of the back office leadership.