Nomura has fired up the electronic trading platform of failed investment bank Lehman Brothers to provide clients with Direct Market Access (DMA) and algorithms, connecting to equity markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
Nomura says the rebranded ModelEx system - which allows clients to electronically access its suite of automated trading strategies - will also launch in India, Taiwan and Korea by April 2009.
Lehman had already rolled out the system, then called LMX Advanced Strategies, in India last summer prior to its collpase. Nomura then moved to acquire Lehman's franchise in Asia Pacific as well as European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking units.
Nomura says it is now looking to tap the failed bank's expertise through a new electronic trading services (ETS) business, headed by former Lehman MD Rob Laible, who is joined by former colleagues from the quantitative analytics team, developers of the algorithms, and information technology and operations personnel.
Previously, Nomura has been active in both DMA and Direct-Strategy-Access trading in Japan through its "Experts" algorithmic platform. The new team has been charged with maintaining the Nomura platform while at the same time building-out the pan-Asian capabilities of ModelEx.
The bank claims this will ensure seamless cross-platform execution and provide superior analysis and a competitive edge for its clients.
Says Laible: "Nomura is committed to establishing a world-class suite of electronic trading products for its customers globally, and we've been very focused over the last few months on re-establishing a market-leading platform in Asia."
Nomura relaunched the Lehman system in Europe last month.