Japan’s Nomura Fleeing Italian Debt

Over the past two months, Japan’s Nomura Holdings, the country’s largest brokerage, has shed nearly $2.4 billion in Italian bonds as the company tries to reduce its exposure to Europe. The company reports that it has reduced its total holdings in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain (the GIIPS) by $2.67 billion and now holds a total of just $884 million in GIIPS countries, of which $467 million is held in Italy.

According to a report at Bloomberg, Nomura’s remaining exposure to the GIIPS includes debt, derivatives, and counter-party agreements. Nomura’s stock fell to a 37-year low last week, and the brokerage is firing people and reducing costs in an effort to lower expenses by $1.2 billion and avoid a threatened downgrade of its own from Moody’s.