Japan's top broker Nomura Holdings said on Thursday it would cut up to 1000 jobs in London to cope with the financial crisis after buying parts of failed Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers.

The cuts, the latest in a wave of global layoffs by banks and brokers struggling to weather the worst financial crisis in decades, could affect almost one quarter of Nomura's 4500-strong workforce in the English capital.

"The decision follows an internal review after the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' equities and investment banking operations in October," said Nomura, which took on more than 8000 staff from Lehman Brothers' Asia-Pacific, Middle East and European operations, as well as its Indian IT subsidiaries.

Nomura net loss

Nomura made a net loss of 149.5-billion yen ($1.61-billion) in the six months to September, hit by the turmoil in world financial markets.

It estimates that the total cost of acquiring Lehman's operations in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East will be about two-billion dollars.

Nomura moved swiftly to snap up Lehman businesses outside of the United States after the once-mighty Wall Street bank was brought down by the financial crisis that has rocked world markets.

Japanese financial firms are believed to be less exposed to losses related to troubled US mortgage loans compared with many Western banks, but they are being squeezed by weak markets and Japan's first recession in seven years.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London has warned that at least 70 000 jobs will be lost in London's financial district — a key pillar of the British economy — within barely a year as it grapples with the world financial crisis.


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