Nomura To Strengthen Monitoring Of Internal Control System

Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:NMR) announced its plans to strengthen control of its internal affairs after finding out a breach of law that happened the previous year, per a Bloomberg report.

Per people related to the matter, the company put forth a report this month to the Financial Services Agency (FSA) stating that it broke securities law with regard to handling information about a company that was not available publicly. The report also included details about the steps it would take in order to improve handling of sensitive information going forward.

Nomura is planning to monitor its sales activities at 158 retail outlets in Tokyo. Further, it shall conduct training of its branch managers to remind them that they are not allowed to share internal information about a company after going public.

After having conducted an internal probe on the breach of law, the company found its branch manager in southern Japan guilty of mishandling information that Wash House Co. was considering a stock split. As no solid proof could be found against the manager in particular, it was reported that the company was responsible for the breach.

The regulatory authorities of Japan are to decide upon the need to investigate Nomura’s breach after FSA studies the report submitted by the company.

Per the data compiled by Bloomberg, Nomura stands first among the underwriters of Japanese IPOs in the financial year ended Mar 2017. Also, the company’s decision to bolster compliance is likely to enhance shareholders’ confidence.

The stock has gained 75.3% over the last one year, outperforming the Financial - Investment Bank industry’s rally of 54.7%.

Currently, Nomura carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) , Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) and Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) . All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

E*TRADE’s earnings estimates were revised upward by 1% for the current year, in the last 60 days. Also, its shares have jumped 65.0%, over the last one year.

Interactive Brokers’ current-year earnings estimates were revised nearly 1.5% upward, over the last 60 days. Further, bank’s shares have increased 9.4%, in the last one year.

Raymond James witnessed a 6% upward earnings estimates revision for the current year, in the last 60 days. Moreover, its shares have gained 66.1% in the last one year.

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