Asian investment bank Nomura is using IT skills acquired from
bankrupt Lehman Brothers to support its global expansion.
The bank has taken over three services units based in Powai
India from Lehman Brothers, which will give it 1,200 additional
IT staff.
The three operations provide IT support for various business
units at Lehman Brothers.
"This will significantly enhance Nomura's IT functions and other
support operations including financial control, operations, risk
management, as well as analytical support for various business
verticals," Nomura said in a statement.
"The acquisition of Lehman's operations in Powai is an important
component of our global expansion strategy. It will allow us to
significantly enhance our global service platform to support the
business expansion that the combined talents of Nomura and Lehman
will drive going forward," said Kenichi Watanabe, president and CEO
of Nomura.
Robert Morgan, director at consultancy Hamilton Bailey, said the
reputation of Lehmans IT operation is good and Nomura will have
management challenges working with offshore IT service
providers.
Lehman Brothers, which employs 5000 UK employees including
significant numbers of IT staff,
filed for bankruptcy earlier last month. Administrator
PriceWaterhouseCoopers negotiated the sale of the investment
banking and equities businesses of Lehman Brothers to Nomura.
Speaking at the time a Nomura spokeswoman said the
IT systems of the two banks would eventually be integrated,
although it was too early to say when.