Japanese Finance Giant Nomura Planning to Launch Digital Asset Division

Japan’s financial services juggernaut Nomura has announced that it plans to launch a digital asset division as part of an overall reorganization focused on digital finance.

In an announcement on March 1, Nomura Holdings revealed plans to reorganize its “Future Innovation Company” into a newly established “Digital Company” which will be effective as of April 1.

The announcement acknowledged that digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, securities, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are gaining traction as a new asset class.

Nomura provides broker-dealer, banking, investment, financing, and other financial services to individual, institutional, and government clients across the globe. The company reported 74 trillion yen or around $640 billion in assets under management as of December 2021.

Embracing digital asset technology

The Osaka-based firm was founded in 1925 and acquired most of Lehman Brothers Asian operations together with its European equities and investment banking units in October 2008.

The establishment of the new “Digital Company” organization will enable Nomura to strengthen collaboration across all digital finance areas which includes digital assets.

Nomura President and Group CEO, Kentaro Okuda, commented:

“Digital technology is a critical part of our strategic drive to expand our operations in private markets. The new Digital Company will lead deeper collaboration among internal and external stakeholders, accelerate our uptake of digital technologies, and enhance our client services.”

The announcement added that the firm intends to tap into the “fusion of innovations stemming from distributed ledger technology with traditional finance,” expand its private markets businesses, and broaden its services in these focus areas.

Specific crypto assets were not mentioned, neither was the possibility of the firm allowing its clients to trade them.

On Feb. 8, BeInCrypto reported that Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, was planning to issue a Yen-backed stablecoin.

Bolstering ESG

Nomura Holdings has also formed a new investment banking group to bolster its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), and sustainable technology.

On March 3, it was reported that the Global Greentech Industrials and Infrastructure (GII) group is being formed by combining the U.S. Nomura Greentech division with Nomura’s global energy, infrastructure, and industrials teams.

The new group will comprise around 150 bankers for renewable energy, sustainable materials, agriculture tech, advanced transportation, energy information technology, water technology, environmental services and technologies, and digital infrastructure, it added.