*
Liam had a lot to be thankful for unlike the luckless traders, analysts and advisers at Nomura in London, who suddenly found themselves out on the streets of London, just a stones throw from the Bank of England. It was a dark miserable morning as they glumly filed out of Nomura’s offices on Angel Lane, making their way to their familiar haunts on Upper Thames Street and Suffolk Lane: local pubs, the Folly and All Bar One. there they tried to come to terms with Tokyo’s brutal decision: they were no longer needed, the bank had decided to pull the plugs on equities in Europe.
Summarily gathered in conference rooms a little after eight in the morning they were told in a short to the point speech to gather their belongings, leave their key cards at reception and quit the building.
It was a repeat of a scene Liam Clancy had known in December 2008, when INB abruptly shut down its trading unit and he found himself in a Dublin pub staring into a half pint of Guinness wondering what had happened to him.
Then it had been the banking crisis, now it was a toxic blend of zero-interest rates and a collapse in trading revenue. Nomura was not alone in its retreat: Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG had already announced large cuts in their European operations.
Hundreds of banking staff at Nomura’s European stylish headquarters on One Angel Lane, would have to find a new job in a sector struggling for profitability. The business acquired from Lehman Brother’s in 2008 had finally succumbed to the fate of its previous owner.
As usual an e-mail had convoked Nomura’s staff to a compulsory meeting on the eleventh floor of the bank. By nine it was all over and to rub salt into the wounds they were informed no year end bonuses would be forthcoming. In the precipitation many of Nomura’s staff had not even the time to gather their personal belongings, which they were informed would be gathered and stored waiting for collection at a later date.
Cornucopia Page 119
