Top Japanese brokerage houses are expanding their operations in the rest of Asia to capitalise on robust demand for funds in the fast-growing region, a press report said Sunday.
Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan's top securities firm, will increase its work force at its Asian subsidiaries, including those in Hong Kong and Singapore, by about 100 people, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Daiwa Securities SMBC Co, a unit of Daiwa Securities Group Inc serving corporate clients, opened representative offices in Bangkok, Thailand, and Mumbai, India this year.
Nikko Cordial Corp has also opened representative offices in Shanghai, China and Mumbai, and started gathering information on local and Japanese companies operating in these countries, the report said.
Major Japanese major brokerages downsized their operations in Asia after the currency crisis there in 1997.
But they are coming back as the region is booming with a rash of merger-and-alliance deals and privatisations of state-owned enterprises, the Nihon Keizai said.
Nomura will gradually boost by about 20 the number of employees in its investment banking division tasked with doing business with corporate clients in the rest of Asia, the daily said.
In February, Nomura lead-managed the initial public offering of South Korean business group Lotte Shopping Co, the largest deal of its kind for the brokerage, it added.