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RBA holds rates as it weighs past cuts

SYDNEY — Australia’s central bank left interest rates at record lows on Tuesday as it waits for the three cuts already delivered to gain traction in a sluggish economy, though markets are wagering more easing will ultimately be needed.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) ended its last board meeting of the year by leaving the door open to another cut in its 0.75% cash rate.

“The Board is prepared to ease monetary policy further if needed to support sustainable growth in the economy,” said RBA Governor Philip Lowe in a brief statement.

“The Board also agreed that due to both global and domestic factors, it was reasonable to expect that an extended period of low interest rates will be required in Australia.”

Markets are almost fully priced for a move to 0.5% by April, with a real chance of reaching 0.25% or even a drastic shift to quantitative easing via buying government bonds.

The decision comes a day before government data is expected to show the economy expanded by 0.5% in the September quarter, the third straight quarter of middling outcomes.

Annual growth is forecast to pick up to 1.7% from a decade low of 1.4%, which, while pedestrian by past performances, would still support the RBA’s hopes for a gradual turnaround.

Lower borrowing costs have certainly worked to reignite home prices, which enjoyed their strongest month in 16 years in November, led by boom-like gains in Sydney and Melbourne.

Yet they have had far less luck in reviving consumers struggling with stagnant wage growth and sky-high debts. A weekly survey from ANZ showed confidence near four-year lows with the rate cuts themselves blamed for spooking consumers.

“Annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth may accelerate a touch, but this hardly points to an economy that is undergoing more than a gentle turn, one that is unlikely to be enough to stop unemployment moving higher,” said ANZ head of Australian economics David Plank.

“Sentiment looks set to be challenged for a while yet.”

Some sectors of the economy were doing well, notably exports. Data out Tuesday showed the country’s current account surplus swelled to a record A$7.9 billion ($5.36 billion) in the September quarter, only the second surplus since 1975.

It’s an influx of cash that fattens company profits and boosts the government’s tax take, but fails to percolate down to households.

The major resource companies are majority owned by foreigners, so much of the profits they earn flows offshore. Neither are miners splashing out on their staff, with annual wage growth in the sector stuck at a miserly 2%.

Government spending was helping, having added around 0.3 percentage points to growth in the third quarter.

Yet the conservative government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has so far rebuffed calls for a major injection of fiscal stimulus, choosing instead to stay wedded to a political pledge to return the budget to surplus. — Reuters

More gold medals for PHL as ‘Tisoy’ forces SEAG to adjust

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

AMID THE STRONG typhoon that battered parts of Luzon island, gold medals continued to flow for the Philippines on Day Three of the competition in the 30th Southeast Games on Tuesday.

Wushu, arnis and gymnastics gave Team Philippines, which started the day with 38 gold medals, more top hardware just as typhoon “Tisoy” (international name: Kammuri) was making its presence felt in Southern and Central Luzon and the National Capital Region which forced Games organizers to make adjustments to the schedules of events.

Agatha Wong, 21, who won a gold medal for the country on Day One on Sunday, added another by winning the taolu taijijian event in wushu competitions held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Ms. Wong scored 9.65 in winning the event ahead of Thi Minh Huyen Tran (9.63) of Vietnam, who claimed silver, Basma Lachkar (9.62) of Brunei, who took bronze.

The College of Saint Benilde product won silver in the same event two years ago in the Kuala Lumpur Games.

It was her second gold medal in the ongoing Games after successfully defending her taolu taijiquan title on Dec. 1.

Following the pace set by Ms. Wong, sanda fighters Divine Wally, Jessie Aligaga, Arnel Mandal, Francisco Solis and Clemente Tabugara, Jr. also delivered gold medals.

Ms. Wally, who won bronze in last year’s Asian Games, emerged on top in the women’s 48-kg category.

Messrs. Aligaga and Mandal topped the men’s 48-kg and 52-kg divisions, respectively.

Winners in the men’s 56-kg and 65-kg divisions, meanwhile, were Mr. Solis and Tabugara.

Arnis, which proved to be a deep source of gold medals in this edition of the SEA Games, added gold medals 13 and 14 after Crisamuel Delfin and Mary Allin Aldeguer ruled their respective divisions at the Angeles University Foundation in Pampanga.

Mr. Delfin topped the men’s anyo non-traditional arnis while Ms. Aldeguer did the same in the distaff side.

Mr. Delfin beat Vietnam’s Van Huynh Ngo for gold with Cambodia’s Sila Chhem and Myanmar’s Yar Zar Tun winning bronze.

Ms. Aldeguer topped Vietnam’s Thi Hoai Trieu in the gold medal game while Naing L Sheilar of Myanmar and Soumala Eng wound up with the bronze medal.

Olympics-bound gymnast Caloy Yulo, meanwhile, added another gold in the men’s floor exercise, in addition to his gold in the men’s artistic gymnastics individual all-around on Day One.

Nineteen-year-old Yulo chalked up a score of 14.700, from a difficulty score of 6.200 and execution score of 8.500.

In billiards, Filipino cue artists Carlo Biado and Johann Chua opened their bid in the men’s 9-ball doubles competition on a bright note on Tuesday, scoring a 9-2 victory over Malaysians Kok Jken Yung and Muhammad Almie at the Manila Hotel Tent.

A few hours later, Jeffrey Ignacio and Warren Kiamco blasted Malaysia’s Darryl Chia Soo Yew and Ibrahim Bin Amir 9-3 to join Messrs. Biado and Chua in the win column.

SOME SEA GAMES EVENTS POSTPONED
Meanwhile, due to the inclement weather brought about by typhoon Tisoy, some events were postponed.

As of 12 noon on Monday, postponed, as confirmed by the technical delegate and competition managers were the benchrest event in shooting (Metro Manila), skateboarding, underwater hockey and polo (Southern Luzon), petanque (Clark), and sepak takraw, canoe/kayak/traditional boat race, muay and surfing (Subic).

The organizers said updated schedules of postponed events will be released and shared to all concerned soon.

In a statement, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) said it was closely monitoring the movement of Tisoy and expressed readiness to handle the situation by taking the necessary precautionary measures to secure the safety of all guests and athletes.

Nokia in discussions to provide 5G technology to 2-3 firms in Philippines

By Arjay L. Balinbin
Reporter

NOKIA on Tuesday said it is currently in talks with “two to three” firms in the country to provide fifth-generation (5G) technology solutions for their operations.

In a media briefing in Makati City on Tuesday, Nokia Philippines Country Head Andrew Cope said the company is currently in talks to partner with “two to three” Philippine firms from “big industries” on 5G technology.

“Some will be rolled out next year. How big and how far, I really cannot comment. It might be very small, it might be significant,” he said.

Mr. Cope said the company is looking at companies from several industries, such as “mining, ports, anything that requires personal or public safety, automation industries, and factories.”

He said the Philippines could be a major market for 5G as “it is like a gateway to the rest of the world.”

“What works here moves to Thailand, moves to India, and moves to Bangladesh,” he explained.

In his presentation, Kai Sahala, head of Nokia 5G sales for Asia Pacific and Japan, said the 5G technology is seen to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economic growth in the next 15 years. For the Asia and the Pacific region alone, he said 5G will contribute $890 million.

Mr. Cope stressed that Nokia has a “strong commitment” to deliver next generation communication technology to the “leading operators” in the Philippines.

He said Nokia, which currently has a team of 1,100, has previously partnered with Smart Communications, Inc. and the Philippine Red Cross to apply innovative technology for its disaster relief efforts.

Nokia, Mr. Cope added, has also partnered with Globe Telecom, Inc. to bring cloud-native business services to the country.

He said Nokia’s vision this time is develop 5G end-to-end infrastructure to “support economic growth, and improve lives.”

Nokia also aims to build enterprise-use cases to digitalize industries, he added.

DTI expects new CITIRA Senate draft by year’s end

THE tax reform bill lowering corporate income tax and rationalizing fiscal incentives will be filed with the Senate by the end of December, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters Tuesday, incorporating input from its investor constituencies that could provide for longer transition periods away from older incentive schemes.

Mr. Lopez said that the new version of the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA), representing the second package of the government’s comprehensive tax program, will address the “specific needs and interests of stakeholders.”

He added that input from the Department of Finance (DoF), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the private sector have been considered.

The transition period for exiting old incentive schemes and terms of new investment incentives continue to be contentious, he said.

“There are provisions being worked so that we can improve the support for the new projects,” he said.

The DoF supports the two to five-year transition period in the bill approved by the House of Representatives, while the DTI is pushing for a five to seven-year transition period in general and a seven to 10-year transition for companies that employ over 3,000 people.

“It will be subject to further deliberation in the Senate,” Mr. Lopez said.

“You can expect due consideration concerns raised in preliminary senate committee hearings — you can expect consideration on these positions,” Mr. Lopez said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri in September said that the Senate is considering a longer transition period while increasing the gross income earned rate to seven percent from five percent. — Jenina P. Ibañez

PHL U-22 team looks to stay alive in SEAG bid

THE Philippine Under-22 men’s football team plays its final game in group play in the 30th Southeast Asian Games today, taking on winless Timor Leste in a match to be played at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna where it hopes to get a favorable result to keep its bid alive.

Currently sporting a 1-1-1 record, joint second with Cambodia and Malaysia, the Young Azkals have to beat Timor Leste in their 4 p.m. match, preferably by a wide margin to pad its push for the semifinals, and hope that the football gods smile at them.

The Philippines sits at fourth place, with Cambodia and Malaysia, which are taking on one another today at 4 p.m. at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, having the higher tiebreaker points at plus-4 and plus-3, respectively.

The Young Azkals will see its bid greatly helped with a win over Timor Leste and Cambodia and Malaysia fighting to a draw. In such a scenario they advance outright to the knockout semifinals.

A win by either Cambodia or Malaysia though will have the Philippines needing to really win big against Timor Leste and push their goal difference, which right now stands at zero, up to catch up with the other teams.

In Group A where the Philippines is lumped into, only Myanmar (3-1-0) has secured a spot in the semifinals.

In the SEA Games, tournament format calls for the top two teams in the two groupings at the end of group play advancing to the next round.

Tiebreakers are decided by goal difference first and goal scored second.

WIN OVER MALAYSIA
The Philippines enters today’s match off a spirited 1-0 victory over Malaysia on Nov. 29.

Stephan Schrock, one of two of the team’s overage players, provided the go-ahead goal off a corner kick in the 73rd minute for the host side.

Malaysia desperately tried to get the point back but the Young Azkals would not allow them to, with the Philippines eventually sealing the victory.

Timor Leste, meanwhile, is out to exit the tournament on a winning note.

It lost 4-0 to Malaysia in its last game on Dec. 2. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Bill eyes credit quota for fishery sector

A CONGRESSMAN has filed a bill seeking to promote financial inclusion for rural communities and agricultural households through the participation of banking institutions, organization of farmer cooperatives and the creation of a special fund to finance these associations.

Representative Junie E. Cua of the first district of Quirino, who chairs the House Banks and Financial Intermediaries Committee, filed House Bill 5681 on Monday, which if passed will be known as The Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Financing Enhancement System Act.

The bill states that all banking institutions, whether government-owned or private, shall set aside a credit quota or a “minimum mandatory agricultural and fisheries financing requirement of at least twenty-five percent of their total loanable funds,” except newly established banks which have only commenced operations in five years or less.

Mr. Cua also highlighted the need to organize and train farmers into cooperatives with professional managers “who will access the credit financing from the banks,” adding that “these cooperatives/associations can provide ready, low-interest, and flexible financing” for the needs of the rural and agricultural households.

With the hope of improving the productivity of the farmers, House Bill 5681 also seeks to create an Agribusiness Management Capacity and Institution-Building Fund “to finance the organization, capacity and institution-building programs of rural cooperatives.”

Despite the enactment of the Republic Act 10000 or the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act last 2009 which mandates lending by banks to farmers, financial institutions still found it difficult to invest in the agriculture industry and opted to pay the mandated penalties instead.

“The concept that banks are not merely credit providers but stakeholders in rural development is an underlying yet unrealized principle in the present law,” Mr. Cua said, emphasizing that “the proposed measure is effectively cementing the role of the financial sector as stakeholder and critical growth partner of the State in countryside development.” — G. L. Espedido

AC Energy inks deal to acquire solar farm operator

AC Energy Philippines, Inc. has signed a share purchase agreement with Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd., Langoer Investments Holding B.V., and the Government Service Insurance System for the acquisition of their ownership interest in Negros Island Solar Power Inc. (Islasol).

Islasol owns and operates an 80-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Negros Occidental.

“By acquiring a controlling interest in [Islasol], [AC Energy Philippines] will increase its ownership interest in a generating asset with stable cash flows at a reasonable cost,” the listed company said.

It added that the acquisition expands the company’s “strategic objective” to achieve at least 2 gigawatts of attributable renewable energy capacity by 2025.

Based on the agreement, the Islasol shareholders will transfer all of their shares of stock to the AC Energy Philippines. Islasol is engaged in the business of exploring developing and utilizing renewable energy resources such as solar energy.

“Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the Philippine Competition Commission. Completion is expected to occur on or before 31 March 2020,” the company said.

The acquisition of Islasol was one of the matters approved by the board of directors of AC Energy Philippines during a meeting last month.

On Nov. 11, the board also ratified the executive committee’s approval to enter into a share purchase agreement with the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure (PINAI) fund for the acquisition of the latter’s ownership interest in Philippine Wind Holdings Corp., the parent company of North Luzon Renewables Energy Corp.

The board also approved the purchase of up to 100% of PINAI fund’s ownership interest in San Carlos Solar Energy, Inc. (Sacasol), which owns and operates a 45-megawatt (MW) solar farm in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. The solar farm is operating under the feed-in-tariff (FiT) regime.

On Tuesday, shares in AC Energy Philippines rose 2.89% to close at P2.49 each. — Victor V. Saulon

Gilas Pilipinas plunges into SEA Games action

THE Philippine men’s basketball team get its 30th Southeast Asian Games campaign rolling today, taking on Singapore on opening day of the 5-on-5 hoops competition at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Bannered by an all-Philippine Basketball Association squad coached by many-time champion Tim Cone, Gilas Pilipinas is out to keep the country’s stranglehold of the tournament in the biennial regional sporting meet, where it has won the gold in 17 of the 19 times basketball has been staged.

Making up Team Philippines in men’s basketball are five-time PBA most valuable player June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross of the San Miguel Beermen, Troy Rosario of TNT KaTropa, Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, Stanley Pringle and Greg Slaughter of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, Kiefer Ravena of the NLEX Road Warriors, Vic Manuel of the Alaska Aces, Christian Standhardinger of Northport Batang Pier and Matthew Wright of the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters.

The Philippines is in Group A along with Singapore, Myanmar and Vietnam.

It takes on Singapore first today at 8:15 p.m., followed by Vietnam on Dec. 6 and Myanmar on Dec. 7.

In the lead-up to the Games, Mr. Cone said they are looking to compete as a team with everybody asked to contribute the best way they can.

“We want to share the ball and the responsibility. We want to play as a team to achieve our goal of winning the gold,” said Mr. Cone.

Making up Group B of the competition, meanwhile, are 2017 silver medallist Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Format calls for the top two teams in each grouping after the group play advancing to the knockout semifinals.

Kicking off its campaign, meanwhile, on Dec. 5 is the Pat Aquino-coached women’s squad.

Making up the core of the team are Jack Animam, Clare Castro, Janine Pontejos and Afril Bernardino, who handed the country a gold in women’s 3×3 competition on Monday.

The Philippine women’s team is competing in a four-team field which also includes reigning gold medallist Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

It plays Indonesia first today at 6 p.m., followed by Malaysia on Dec. 8 and Thailand on Dec. 10.

The team with the most win after the one-round tournament wins the gold. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

The Wolf of Wall Street gets woke and all I got was a sticker

By Sam Potter
Bloomberg

JORDAN BELFORT puts his hand on my shoulder. His eyes are wild. He’s wearing cocaine like cologne.

“Do we have an understanding?” he asks me.

This is the man who gave himself the name Wolf of Wall Street. Actually, it’s an actor playing him (Oliver Tilney in Leo DiCaprio’s screen role). We’re in the middle of what’s called immersive theater. So I’m immersing.

I get that Belfort/Tilney doesn’t want me to rat him out, but I don’t know which debauchery he has in mind — the money or the drugs — or what relatively responsible adult I shouldn’t be ratting to — his wife or an FBI agent. It all seems plausible, like the pump-and-dump stock schemes that made the real-life Belfort infamous enough for Martin Scorsese to do a film about him.

Belfort/Tilney repeats the question. “Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes,” I tell him. “We do.”

I’m not sure I fully understand our understanding, but in immersive theater, like at Stratton Oakmont, Belfort’s erstwhile firm — where an excess of excess was expected from employees — you don’t get far saying no.

It’s make-believe, yet the reactions it evokes can be refreshingly real. The team behind the theater experience of The Great Gatsby has given the same treatment to The Wolf of Wall Street, Belfort’s titillating memoir.

TRADING FLOOR
On a recent Wednesday evening, 100 of us, maybe more, move through 24 rooms on four floors of an otherwise empty building near actual City of London bank offices. Among the performance areas are a posh bar that sells real drinks, a bedroom, a swimming pool and a police interrogation room. There’s too much going on for audience members to experience everything. But who doesn’t want to see the trading floor, where we can experience the thrill of tearing the faces off people who’ve made the idiot mistake of trusting us?

Luckily, it’s new-issue day. Stratton Oakmont is handling the initial public offering of Steve Madden shares, and the Wolf needs it to be a big success.

Belfort’s sidekick, Danny Porush (played by Jonah Hill in the movie and James Bryant here), whips the sales team and the audience into a frenzy. He has us chant Belfort’s name, starting with a whisper (“Make it sexy,” he commands) and building up. By the time Belfort takes the floor we’re at fever pitch, in a genuinely cathartic moment that for me was the high point of the show.

FRANTIC SHOW
Paper currency flutters in the air. The lighting turns hallucinatory red. Belfort is ranting about how an employee’s kids won’t have to go into debt to finish college. Perhaps it was Danny’s warm-up, or the many young people in the audience, but the speech resonates.

That’s not always the case in this often frantic show.

The story unfolds in various parts of the building at the same time. Actors randomly divide the audience into different “tracks.” So while I enjoy Stratton Oakmont, others are trying to crack the case for the FBI. That structure means a lot of time thinking I might be missing something and scenes with lesser characters that drag.

But there’s magic on the trading floor. Belfort makes Gordon Gekko sound like Greta Thunberg. His pronouncement: “There. Is. No! Nobility! In! Poverty!”

Upon hearing this, at least two audience members gasp. Their reaction is indicative of the increasingly sorry state of depravity since Belfort’s 2007 memoir and Scorsese’s 2013 film.

Licentiousness is less hip today. Many still practice it, of course, and some always will. But a bit of the gusto is gone. Growing wealth inequality makes the mantra that life is better with a Lambo-load of money seem brutal now. #MeToo has rendered whole chunks of Belfort’s story cringe-worthy.

The production has responded. Women’s roles are beefed up. The movie’s nudity is gone. The crazier office behavior has been cut. (Employees don’t play catch with small humans, for one.)

WOLF DE-FANGED
Simulating the various drug-fueled benders proves tricky, though it can be fun. Danny in his underwear rapping over Whitney Houston’s “My Love is Your Love” is surreal but brilliant, and another Danny escapade — delivering $1 million to a Belfort friend while he’s wasted — made me laugh out loud.

There also remains an unparalleled level of profanity (the movie set a Hollywood record for use of the F-word) and plenty of crudity and shouting. Apparently, thumping your chest while making an ape sound was a big part of life at Stratton Oakmont.

Soon after my “understanding” with Belfort, I move to get a better view. I wind up on another track in a different part of the narrative. What the heck, I think. Danny is here so it’s probably the place to be. They’ve drawn his character directly from the movie version of Porush (named Donnie Azoff on screen), which reportedly was a less-than-accurate portrayal. But at this point, who cares? He’s hilarious. When it comes to the legend of Belfort, who made a fortune spinning lies and who some accuse of adopting the nickname just for his book, insisting on truth seems silly.

Yet, this wolf feels de-fanged. Whatever Stratton Oakmont was, I doubt it had gender-neutral bathrooms. I don’t think they handed out stickers (yes, I got one). But it’s 2019, the wolf is woke, and this production might be as wolfish as we’re going to get.

DPWH sees NEDA board approval for TPLEx extension by first quarter

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board will “most likely” approve by first quarter of 2020 the unsolicited proposal of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to extend the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx).

“Wino-workout lang. Nasa NEDA na ‘yun. (It’s being worked out at NEDA level) I think soon we should come out (with the approval)… hopefully first quarter next year… Most likely, first quarter next year. Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar told reporters Sunday in Alabang when asked for an update regarding the proposed project.

Mr. Villar’s department granted in December 2018 original proponent status to SMC following its unsolicited proposal to extend TPLEx.

According to the official website of the DPWH, the proposed project was endorsed to the NEDA’s Investment Coordination Committee in August.

SMC submitted its P23.948-billion unsolicited proposal to the DPWH in February to extend TPLEx from Rosario, La Union to San Juan, La Union.

The 59.4-kilometer extension includes three segments: 18 kilometers from Rosario to Tubao, 23 kilometers from Tubao to Naguilian, and 18.4 kilometers from Naguilian to San Juan.

SMC is also in charge of the original 89.31-kilometer alignment of the TPLEx, which runs from Tarlac City to Rosario, La Union. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Hidilyn Diaz now a SEA Games gold medalist

AN Olympic silver medallist and an Asian Games gold medalist, now Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz is a Southeast Asian Games gold winner.

Achieved the feat after topping the women’s 55-kg division on Monday, Ms. Diaz, 28, said she is proud of her latest achievement more so that it happened in front of his family, friends and the hometown fans.

“I could not have done this without the support of the people here,” said Ms. Diaz as she was flanked by media and supporters after her gold medal conquest.

“I felt some nervousness but the support of the people inspired me to do well,” she added.

The Rio Olympic silver medallist on her way to the gold lifted 91 kilograms in the snatch and 120 in the clean and jerk for a total of 211, eclipsing the 207 total points she had in the last Asian Games in 2018.

Finishing with the silver was Vietnam’s Thi Thuy Nguyen (197) while Indonesia’s Juliana Klarisa (175) earned bronze.

Ms. Diaz, who had her parents watching on the stands as she went for the gold, said hard work in the lead-up really paid off for her.

“I’m happy that the hard work we put in paid off. A couple of months back I must admit I wasn’t ready because the IWF World Championships just ended but we persevered to get back in top form and now we’re here with the gold,” she said.

Ms. Diaz went on to say that she was happy with the number of people who came to watch the weightlifting event, saying it was encouraging and that hopefully more attention and support be given to the sport.

Now that her SEA Games goal had been achieved, Ms. Diaz returns her focus on being able to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games through a number of qualifying events next year. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Nomura’s incoming CEO to speed up reform with retail business in focus

TOKYO/HONG KONG — Nomura Holdings, Inc.’s incoming Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kentaro Okuda said on Tuesday he wanted to speed up the pace of reform at the country’s largest brokerage, which has long struggled to make its mark globally and must deal with a shrinking retail business at home.

A three-decade bank veteran and currently co-chief operating officer, Mr. Okuda, 56, is tasked with remaking Nomura into a firm that can better compete with the hordes of fintech and other non-traditional rivals breaking into financial services. Never realizing its ambition of becoming a global investment bank or even gaining a strong footing after its 2008 disastrous acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ Asian and European businesses, Nomura last year posted its first annual loss in a decade.

In April, it announced $1 billion in cost cuts for its wholesale business, which serves corporations and institutional investors, and said it would shut 20% of domestic retail branches.

“I have a sense of crisis over whether today’s main players in the financial industry can remain so down the road,” Mr. Okuda told a gathering of investors, a day after he was named to succeed CEO Koji Nagai from April.

“I want to speed up our pace of reform, taking it into account the change that is affecting our customers and financial markets,” he said.

Mr. Okuda did not go into details. But a senior company source said the bank was likely to first sharpen its focus on its domestic retail business as that has the potential to be a strong source of revenue generation for the bank in the next few years.

In Nomura’s strategy update to investors in April, Mr. Okuda said the bank needed to overhaul its wholesale business structure and reduce lower growth, lower profitability businesses.

To date, he has been mainly focused on Nomura’s investment banking business, which has been hit by a shrinking fee pool as banks chase fewer deals as well as by new regulations that have increased costs.

While Nomura is expanding into China, with its majority-owned securities joint venture securing regulatory approval last month, boosting revenue from overseas businesses will remain a challenge said the company source, who was not authorized to speak on the matter and declined to identified.

Overseas, Nomura remains a midsized player seeking to compete with much larger and better established US, European and homegrown rivals in those markets. — Reuters

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