NOMURA WARNS OF $2B LOSS FROM U.S. CLIENT; SHARE PRICE SINKS

Nomura Holdings Inc. said it may have incurred a “significant” loss arising from transactions with a US client, sending its stock tumbling the most in more than nine years, Takashi Nakamichi and Takako Taniguchi reported for Bloomberg News.

The estimated amount of the claim against the client is about $2 billion based on market prices as of March 26, the Japanese brokerage said in a statement on Monday. It didn’t name the customer.

Nomura is evaluating the extent of the possible loss and the impact it could have on the group’s results. The Tokyo-based firm also canceled plans to sell dollar-denominated bonds.

Shares of Nomura fell as much as 15% on Monday morning in Tokyo, the biggest intraday decline since November 2011. The potential loss would blemish a bumper year for Japan’s biggest securities firm, which has benefited from a boom in trading and investment banking during the pandemic. Nomura’s profit jumped to the highest in 19 years in the nine months ended December.

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