Nomura Closes U.S. RMBS Biz

Nomura Holdings Inc., Tokyo, has officially closed the remainder of its U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities business, an area that has seen heavy cuts, noting that it is taking an RMBS-related loss of about 73 billion yen (approximately $621 million) for its fiscal second quarter.Nomura, the corporate parent of a New York-based Wall Street firm, said the closure is part of a larger U.S. reorganization that involves cutting its regional headcount from 1,300 to 900 at the end of March. Nomura said restructuring costs, in combination with the RMBS-related loss, are expected to result in a consolidated pretax loss for Nomura in the fiscal second quarter of around 40 billion-60 billion yen (approximately $340 million-$511 million). "Nomura has faced challenges in the U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities market which have led to these disappointing results," said Nobuyuki Koga, president and chief executive officer. "However, we have moved decisively to deal with the issue and have avoided further and protracted losses by taking firm and immediate action."