Friday’s Headlines: Nomura Plans to Slash Costs by $1 Billion and Focus on Overseas Operations

Nomura plans to slash costs in its wholesale business by $1 billion over the next fiscal year, ending March 14th, according to the Wall Street Journal. This follows another $1 billion in wholesale cost reductions the broker just finished implementing earlier this year.

“The size of the cuts signal how serious the company is about revamping its business after its top two executives—architects of a money-losing international expansion—resigned last month in the wake of an insider-trading scandal,” the paper writes.

Those troubles come on top of struggles overseas, where the firm has lost money for nine straight quarters. A prime target for cuts is the former operations of Lehman Brothers in Europe and Asia, where Nomura kept generous pay packages for many former Lehman bankers.

 

Other News:

Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank saw big jumps in Q2 profit, as the lenders have been spinning off cash to investors and pouncing on global acquisitions. [Dow Jones]

RBC's wealth management division reported a significant drop in revenue and net income. [On Wall Street]

AIA will sell a $7.6 billion stake in its former unit AIA next week, in what could be one of Asia’s biggest deals of the year. [Reuters]

There is a profound reshaping of hedge funds and their place in the financial ecosystem. [Financial Times]

Carlyle executives committed their own money to a fund that is aiming to raise $10 billion. [Bloomberg]

MBA applications plummet at Harvard, NYU and Columbia. [Businessweek]

RBS awarded Ross McEwan, the new head of its retail division, a $4 million “golden hello.” [Telegraph]

Struggling investment bank Gleacher & Co. is exploring selling itself. [DealBook]

J.P. Morgan is reviewing its agreements with dozens of brokerages in an effort to reduce risks. [WSJ]

How deals are done in Italy. [WSJ]

Opinion: India needs more MBAs to compete with China. [Businessweek]

WS Capital Management, a $550 million Dallas-based equity hedge fund, is shuttering. [AR Magazine]