Some people at Nomura are now being paid a month later than has been normal

29 March 2011

2 minute read

Some people at Nomura are now being paid a month later than has been normal

Financial News reports today that Rothschild has brought forward its bonuses by two months, possibly in order to avoid the coming increase in national insurance.

On the other hand, we hear from headhunters that Nomura has done the opposite: it's allegedly delayed its bonuses by a month.

In the past, we understood that Nomura's bonuses were paid towards the end of April. They would therefore have always been caught by the increase in national insurance on April 5th. Paying them at the end of May ensures that this will definitely be the case.

Headhunters claim Nomura's staff are mildly peeved at the delay. National insurance is not their main concern.

"It's upset a lot of people because it makes it harder for them to move," says one. "Nomura pay late anyway. What will happen now is that people there will get paid at the end of May, have a three month notice period, and won't be able to start anywhere else until September - by which time US banks will be near the end of the year and unwilling to commit their budget."

A spokesman for Nomura explains the move. Nomura, it seems, was plagued by multiple bonus dates with some people receiving their bonuses in April and some people receiving their bonuses in May. The move to a May payment date is merely an act of unification.

"This has been in the pipeline for around six months. It's about pulling all the bonus dates in line," he says.

Those layoffs

Nomura could be interpreted as curtailing its aspirations. Over the past few months, it's laid people off in prime broking and commodities, but headhunters claim it's still hiring in equities.

However, we also understand there have been a few redundancies in equity research.

Quelling the paranoia

Separately, Nomura's been very busy building its US business.

And yet, Glenn Schiffman, its head of US investment banking has suddenly resigned with, 'immediate effect.'

Sounds weird, but we understand that Schiffman - who'd worked for Lehman for 17 years before 2008 - is merely off trekking in Bhutan.

So, maybe Nomura's just trimming its costs in Europe. And maybe it's just decided to harmonise a messy bonus payment schedule in such a way that it will be harder for people to leave. Fundamentally, everything at Nomura is good. Yes.

AUTHORSarah Butcher

Global Editor

Sh
Shocker
19 May 2011
Hello ladies,
It appears you guys understand neither the fundamentals of international banking, basic economics, office politics, personal finances nor the iron girders of capitalism.
Apart from the nine-for-me-one-for-you ethos that you signed up to at Nomura, we financed the destruction of the planet in the totally Big Society notion that market forces would curb our excesses before we kill our only golden goose.
You are bright enough and in the privileged position of being able to see what the average Joe is blind to. Poor man, at best, stares into his flat screen wondering where his PSN went. So if you read this I know you can read and write, so you will also have some concept about just how screwed the West is. Knife-edge, I would say.Yes, the earthquake may prolong Nomura's rough ride, but be assured the $2 deal to have Lehman back into us was several final straws too many. Check the bonds yields.
Pay off your debts and mortgages while you can. Sayeed has had a bad year. The weather down here has been Scottish. Has had to go to some of his other places to drum up business.
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Ex
Exodus
11 May 2011
Since acquiring Lehman Brothers, Nomura has become a truly hateful place to work, this coupled with record low bonuses this year mean I'm looking elsewhere.
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No
Nothing
12 April 2011
The old Lehman is real sucker! The administration staffs received huge bonuses without doing the real investment banking works. All the bonuses are given to senior Lehman bankers and the old Nomura bankers are only getting nothing and worthless JPY Nomura stock options!!
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Ja
Jaded
31 March 2011
Nomura has been taken over by Jesse Bhattal and his Lehmanites who helped destroy Lehman, secured big bonuses for themselves and are now paying each other and patting one another on the bank. In my opinion, Jesse is the worst thing that has happened to us and i cannot believe what he is doing to the promising start we got after buying Lehman. We need the problem solver back.... where is Sayeed. Save us... we need one of your town halls to explain what the hell we should do..... HELP
On and well done Tarun, ruining our London office in your 6 month Stint. And well done Jesse on getting rid of Rachi, the real star behind the equity business. Great thinking!
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fa
factman
29 March 2011
Fact 1: Global Head of Prime in HK resigned a while back. Bulk of Prime in Ldn was decimated in the recent cull. Commitment to a prime product?
Fact 2: Euro Auto research culled. UK Real Estate Research culled. Rankings in II drop from 2nd in Europe to 7th. Specialist Sales have been consistently culled over the last yr. Commitment to European Equity Business? Prospects of actually being a top tier in this?
Fact 3: Global Co head of equities replaced 3 weeks ago. New person who comes in was out of work for 2 yrs. Is there any direction here? Won't all top mgrs be replaced now? Other guy had his men.
Fact 4: US head of Investment Banking Leaves. Suddenly decides to trek Bhutan when he had been tasked with an imp mandate to build a Japanese firm in the US ?
Fact 5: Alot of associates & grads have been cut in the recent cull. No's are disproportionately high vs street. Nomura is a political place and is very top heavy. Look at the number of Senior Managing Directors. Anything below is cheap to remove. Save the seniors and cut the juniors.
Fact 6: Nomura gets out of commodities. Can you real be a global investment bank without having the last C in FICC?
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