Tokyo-based Nomura Group is more tightly integrating its Instinet subsidiary into the brokerage giant, and the company plans to rebrand its entire Japanese electronic trading platform as Instinet.
According to sources familiar with the matter, there are several areas in which Instinet and Nomura currently compete, and the company wanted to make sure it no longer offers rival electronic products. The duplications came about after Nomura acquired some of the assets of now defunct Lehman Bros.
“Nomura is fully committed to Instinet and its agency trading model, and is working toward a goal of Instinet becoming the Nomura Group’s electronic trading arm,” the company said in a statement.
Currently, Nomura is looking at various jurisdictions where the group has multiple broker-dealers, sources said. In some cases, like in the U.S., it might make sense to have multiple B-Ds. But in Japan, where electronic trading has yet to be fully embraced, the company plans to fold the Instinet broker-dealer into Nomura securities and then use the Instinet brand for its entire electronic trading desk.
One source commented the company hopes to increase distribution opportunities for Instinet products in Japan, where Nomura is the country’s largest broker. There will also likely be reductions in cost from combining the two businesses, the source added.
The news comes on the heels of an announcement last week that Anthony Abenante, Instinet’s co-chief executive officer, would be stepping down. Fumiki Kondo will now be the sole CEO of the firm. Abenante had been with Nomura for the past nine years, the last five of which he was at Instinet.
