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Nomura to grab Lehman Middle East for just two dollars, lure Islamic finance

TOKYO, Sept 26 (KUNA) -- Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage, will pay just two dollars for the bankrupt US Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s investment banking and equities operations in the Middle East and Europe, a top-selling business daily here reported Friday.
The Tokyo-based Nomura got the rock-bottom price because it will take over only the failed Wall Street firm's employees, and not its stocks, bonds or other assets, the Nikkei Shimbun said.
The fate of its employees was a major concern for Lehman in the bidding from which Nomura emerged victorious on September 23. Nomura said earlier this week that it would keep all 3,000 workers in Asia and retain most of roughly 2, 500 staff in the Middle Easten and European regions.
The Japanese firm apparently offered to keep far more employees than did Barclays Plc and other potential buyers. While the actual price tag is only two dollars, Nomura is assuming the cost of keeping Lehman workers, the daily said. As for the Lehman's Asia-Pacific business, media reports said Nomura won the bid for USD 225 million.
Meanwhile, Nomura has gained approval from the Securities Commission of Malaysia to establish a new brokerage house in Malaysia, according to a statement released by the firm on Friday.
"The new stock broking company will allow Nomura to further support the Malaysian capital markets by attracting more fund flow from the Middle East and other foreign markets into Malaysian stocks and Islamic financial instruments," Satoshi Imai, chief of Nomura Malaysia Sdn. Bhd said in the statement.
"Malaysia is becoming an increasingly important financial district in South East Asia, particularly with the rapid development of Islamic finance in recent years," he added.
Nomura has had a presence in Malaysia since 1993 with a particular focus on providing corporate advisory services to Malaysian institutions. Based in Tokyo and with regional headquarters in Hong Kong, London, and New York, Nomura employs about 18,000 staff worldwide. (end) mk.ema KUNA 261056 Sep 08NNNN