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Nomura has been in the news for something very un-Japanese: the multi-million dollar golden handshake it has given to one of its top executives. According to a recent report in the Financial Times, the bank gave Sadeq Sayeed, a former chief executive of the company’s European business, a generous $34m payoff after his resignation in March. The FT says this figure was likely to include accelerated stock awards and pension-related payments. Though... Read more

ECM recruitment has been picking up in Tokyo. Question is: will it stay that way? Warwick Pearmund, a consultant at Slate Consulting, says although ECM “got hammered” in the downtown, firms are now in a position where they need (and are looking) to hire again. Dan Weston, an investment banking specialist at t2 Tokyo, says he saw an uptick in ECM hiring in the first half of the year, mostly for junior... Read more

Things could be on the up for prime brokers. According to a Bloomberg report, Credit Suisse is looking to expand its prime brokerage coverage and headcount in Japan on the back of expectations that hedge fund revenue is set to rebound. But it isn’t only the Swiss who have designs on cashing in on a recovery. Kevin Naylor, team manager of the financial services division at Wall Street Associates, says... Read more

Multiple job offers are on the increase in some sectors as the market continues to pick up. And it’s less experienced bankers who are benefitting. “In most cases the multiple offers are coming to more junior candidates, as they are more affordable for the companies and it’s easier to get budget approvals for them,” says Iwona Bancerek, senior consultant at recruitment firm CDS. One area in particular where Bancerek says candidates are... Read more

Kevin Naylor, team manager of the financial services division at Wall Street Associates, says not only have the Big Four been making less of an effort to retain staff over the last six to 12 months, in some cases there has even been restructuring on a scale he says is unprecedented in recent memory. “The impact of the global financial crisis has been delayed on these firms and they have hung... Read more

Overall hiring levels in Tokyo have picked up in 2010. And while progress tends to be steady rather than spectacular, some recruiters are hopeful that the second half of 2010 could see even better demand in certain sectors. Martin Eastgate, a consultant at CDS consulting, says he is now seeing an increase in openings in real estate, despite it having been one of the slower areas in 2009 and early 2010.... Read more

Demand for quants is picking up, but hiring is still sluggish in some areas. In the front office a number of top-tier securities firms are hiring in quantitative roles, says Lionel Kaidatzis, operations director at Morgan McKinley Tokyo. “Equity and equity derivatives seem to be key areas in which firms are looking to hire quants, with some firms looking for research quants and others looking for desk quants on the equity derivative... Read more

Foreign language skills look good on any resume, but just how crucial is Japanese proficiency for expat bankers in Tokyo? The answer depends on the role. Pete Millett, director of recruitment firm People Services International, says while Japanese language skills are always an advantage in the mainstream market, they are often not required in specialised functions. Areas such as risk, quantitative analysis and structuring, as well as technology roles and hard-to-fill... Read more

ANZ is expanding its Japan operations. In a move to broaden its wealth management services, the Australian bank recently opened a Nagoya sub-branch, adding to its existing Tokyo and Osaka branches. Robert Bell, ANZ Japan’s CEO, says the move is aimed at tapping into Japan’s ageing, cash-positive population by offering wealthy Japanese alternative investment opportunities. It also means ANZ will be hiring. “We’ve almost doubled our headcount in Japan over the last... Read more

Six months ago hiring activity in asset management was flat, but the message from recruiters was positive: they said they were optimistic that 2010 would see things picking up. It looks like they were right. Paul Guevara, a senior consultant at recruitment firm Boyd and Moore, says a number of global multi-strategy funds have recognised the current wealth of potential alpha opportunities in the Japanese economy. Given many of these funds... Read more

The wide-reaching bite of the global financial crisis has left many people in banking with glaring gaps on their CVs. And where once those gaps could spell doom for a banking and finance career, today they are far more accepted by employers. What counts is what you do during your gap, and how you explain your time-out achievements to your recruiter and potential employers. To help with that, here are a few... Read more

When Nikko Cordial recently announced it was looking to up its global headcount by almost 1,000, it said the move was partly aimed at tapping into an anticipated increase in demand for securities underwriting. And after a rough couple of years, the good news is that it isn’t just Nikko expecting good things, says Iwona Bancerek, a consultant at recruitment firm CDS Consulting. “On the equity side, for example, we saw... Read more

It has been a tough couple of years for M&A professionals in Japan. Times though are changing. Many banks are now looking to expand their M&A teams, says Iwona Bancerek, a consultant at CDS Consulting. “Although the market is still dominated by big players like Nomura, we are seeing a number of M&A advisory departments growing because the best bet for many Japanese firms in the current market is to either merge... Read more

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is expanding its corporate-banking headcount in Japan. The US firm will add 30 staff to its current 70-strong corporate-banking services headcount before the end of 2010, with the new hires including salespeople, sales support and credit specialists, according to The Wall Street Journal. BoA probably won’t be the only firm hiring. “Hiring demand is recovering along with the rest of the economy, with corporate banks increasing staff... Read more

Nikko Cordial Securities, the brokerage and investment banking unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, has announced plans to increase global staff numbers by 14 per cent (about 1,000 people) between now and the end of March 2013. According to a Bloomberg report, the hiring surge is aimed at tapping into what the firm expects will be increased demand for underwriting securities and advising on takeovers in Japan. It's also part... Read more

Japan’s second-largest brokerage, Daiwa Securities, is planning to increase new-graduate hiring by almost 40 percent in 2011. In an interview with Bloomberg, a spokesperson for Daiwa said the firm plans to hire 490 university graduates for the year starting 1 April 2011. The 2011 intake will include a number of foreign students studying in Japan. It also represents the firm’s first increase in grad hiring since 2007. But what are the chances... Read more

Foreign financial institutions appear to be turning their back on Japan. According to a recent report by human resources firm Executive Search Partners, between early 2008 and August 2009 some 4,500 full-time staff were cut at foreign banks, securities firms, asset management firms and investment funds in Japan. This, the report says, reflects foreign firms’ belief that investing in the Japanese market is no longer profitable. Or at least, not... Read more

Senior level hiring at Japanese banks is in a bit of a slump. John McCrohon, director of financial services at Robert Walters Japan, says most of the current hiring is at AVP or VP level, with limited activity in the MD and above range. Mika Nomura, business director at Hays Banking, has also seen very few senior level roles of late. While the market is showing signs of picking up, she... Read more

Large US banks like Goldman Sachs and Citi are slowly starting to hire again in Tokyo. After cutting their way through the worst of the financial crisis, they are finally increasing their headcounts. Warwick Pearmund, a consultant at Slate Consulting, says the current need for rebuilding comes as a result of US firms having cut too many staff. “Things are now opening up and most people are hiring; although not in... Read more