Nomura always wanted to play with the big boys and, indeed, Japan’s dominant brokerage is starting to resemble the international banks it so dearly wants to emulate.

Big losses? A net $7bn last year. Duff investments? Nomura’s exposure to nasties from Iceland to Madoff cost it $3bn. Fat pay packets? The ratio of compensation and benefits to revenue has trebled, from 24 per cent the year before the October acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ Asian and European operations to 74 per cent at the end of March. Investment banking, as Nomura is discovering, is not just about league tables. Its top ranking in some tables for equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions did not stop Nomura plunging into the red last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, pre-tax investment banking losses doubled as fees fell and expenses climbed.