There will be no Lehman exodus from Nomura
Will Nomura's Lehman adoptees make a beeline for the exit when a large part of their guaranteed bonuses finally becomes available at the end of this month? Apparently not.
To recap... Following the sad and untimely demise of LEH, Nomura hired around 2,500 of its people in London. If said people were sufficiently senior they were apparently offered very generous bonuses to remain in situ.
These bonuses were allegedly guaranteed at 2007 levels and payable in two tranches: 70% in April 2009; 30% in September 2009.
It's nearly April. But after a spate of early exits, former Lehman bankers don't appear to be readying for a departure.
"I don't think people are going to leave," says one senior ex-Lehman person. "It's not necessarily a sign that everyone's happy here, but people are being a lot more selective about where they're going to go right now. No one's offering real amounts of money to move and it's not worth the risk moving."
Recruiters confirm that LEH survivors are happy with their saviour. "It's quite a happy place," says one (who works for Nomura). "It's a pretty stable platform and most people feel the business is going well."
