tokyokoza.com

Tokyo-based Nomura plans to pay 6.5 million yen ($72,000) plus bonuses
to some university graduates who join its investment banking, trading,
research and legal departments in Japan next April, according to its
recruitment Web site. It currently pays a 2.4 million yen starting
salary for those posts.

Nomura, Japan’s largest investment bank, is matching the pay it gave
college graduates originally recruited by Lehman in the country before
its September 2008 bankruptcy. Lehman offered jobs to more than 20
local college seniors before the firm collapsed. Those recruits were
paid a 6.5 million yen salary, people with knowledge of the matter
said last year.

“It’s absolutely imperative for Nomura to raise salaries for new
graduates,” said Wataru Kasatani, a senior analyst at MDAM Asset
Management Co., which oversees about $2.5 billion in Japanese stocks.
“This is a step toward becoming a global firm.”

Japanese companies typically extend job offers to university students
as much as a year before graduation. The Japanese academic year ends
March 31, and the recruits begin work on April 1.

Nomura fell 1.5 percent to 656 yen on the Tokyo bourse.

‘Quality of Staff’

Nomura hired about 500 university graduates for the fiscal year that
starts April 1, 2010, said spokeswoman Keiko Sugai.

“I’m surprised to see Nomura trying to install a global standard,”
said Katsunobu Komizo, the chief executive officer of Executive Search
Partners Co. in Tokyo. “It sounds like a clear revelation that the
firm will compete against Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley.”

Nomura has introduced a new compensation system for university
graduates, said Sugai. Employees who get paid the “global” package
that includes a 6.5 million yen starting salary don’t get additional
pay for overtime. Those who get 2.4 million yen receive overtime
compensation and other benefits, Sugai said.

“The new pay system is designed to bring in specialists reflecting the
characteristics of each business line,” Sugai said in an interview.
“This will help new employees foster their career plans. You cannot
simply compare the two types of salaries.”

English Score

The company’s recruitment Web site advertises about 10 positions at
its mergers and acquisition advisory and equity and bond underwriting
businesses under the new salary system, and 20 at the global markets
units, which includes trading operations. Recruits for investment
banking are required to score more than 860 on the Test of English for
International Communication.

In a prospectus issued a year ago for a $3 billion share sale, Nomura
listed risks including “failure, delays or other difficulties in
integrating the former Lehman employees with our original employees to
form and operate efficiently as a single team.”

Nomura added 8,000 Lehman employees in October 2008, guaranteeing
salaries and bonuses for some workers. Lehman paid employees an
average of $332,000 in the fiscal year ended Nov. 30, 2007. Nomura’s
average pay was $144,000 for the 12 months through March 2008.