Message from CEO

I believe that Nomura Group was given the role of contributing to society through our core business of financial services and investment. We can only contribute to society through our core business when we both understand the markets and have strong professional ethics.
In order for us to continue to offer world class services, each of us is expected to demonstrate a professional attitude and high standard of ethics in our work.

I would first like to take this opportunity to offer my sincerest apologies to all stakeholders for the recent insider trading involving a former Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. employee. We deeply regret that this incident has seriously undermined the integrity of the capital markets.
We are fully aware of the public responsibilities that come with being a market intermediary. We are committed to enhancing our internal control system and ensuring professional ethics are maintained in order to win back the trust of our stakeholders.

Operating in the market system, with a strong spirit of public service

I believe that Nomura Group was given the role of contributing to society through our core business of financial services and investment. To fulfill this role, each and every individual who works at Nomura Group must understand the true essence of the markets, where Nomura Group conducts business.

The market mechanism may not always be perfect. But Nomura Group, which contributes to society and earns its living through markets, must fulfill its function. Nevertheless, while we work to have a strong understanding of the market mechanism, we must always be vigilant against becoming beholden to market fundamentalism.

Nomura Group is naturally a collection of professionals possessing a broad range of financial knowledge. But in order to function in a system like the market which has such an enormous impact on the public at-large, it is not enough to simply be proficient in financial techniques. These professionals must remember that their individual clients have families, and that their corporate clients have employees and other business clients. Financial skills are necessary, but they remain just a means to an end, and in our line of work as investment professionals, the human element is important and professional ethics are critical. Only by combining our knowledge of the markets with strong professional ethics will we be able to contribute to society through our core business.

Building "World Class Quality"

Nomura Group's management vision is "to be a financial services group with world class competitiveness," "to create change to contribute to the development of capital markets and generate growth opportunities," and "to act as a bridge between Asia (including Japan) and U.S./Europe." "World class", "speed" and "create change" serve as our keywords for making this management vision a reality.

While being "world class" means operating on a large scale, it more importantly means aiming for "world class quality." Nomura Group's foundations lie in its Japanese clients and Japan's markets. However, globalization is already impacting both our retail and corporate clients in Japan, and we must continue to respond in turn.

Notwithstanding the current subprime problems, the United States remains a leading country in terms of its financial markets. Our response to globalization must include business activity in the U.S. markets. While there is naturally some risk involved, as a financial services group we must make this effort. In addition, we will develop our businesses in new markets, such as China, Russia and the countries of Central Asia. "Finance" is a global language of its own, and Nomura Group will use it to create world class quality overseas, which requires respecting and understanding the history and culture of the countries where we conduct business.

With investment banks in the U.S. and Europe receiving unprecedented assistance following their wide-spread credit problems, we have reached a turning point in the market environment. We will likely see a retreat from the business model of using high leverage to make profits. In line with the new demands of today's world, we want to pursue a corporate model that does not focus exclusively on financial aspects, and we want to offer a business model that is in harmony with Nomura Group's basic tenets. We want to offer financial products and services of world class quality.

Relating to the keyword "speed", we must make decisions that are in line with our goals, and make these decisions without wasting any time. While market prices will always be debated as being too high or too low, the price is what the market decides at any one point, and it will be the correct price even if an hour later it may have changed - that is just the market mechanism at work. As a result, managing an investment bank naturally requires an ability to respond flexibly and quickly.

"Create change" also means listening carefully to our clients and the markets, so that we can provide high value-added solutions to our clients through financial services and the capital markets. Our business activities will thus generate change in the capital markets. By creating such change, we hope to contribute to the development of the capital markets both in Japan and overseas, and generate growth opportunities.

Contributing to society through our core business

For a commercial entity such as Nomura Group, generating profits is important. The Japanese have a saying: "living from hand to mouth will never make a man." Whatever activity one undertakes, resources are always necessary. Nomura Group's mission is to contribute to society by applying a long-term vision to its core business of finance and investing. CSR represents the incorporation of that contribution by Nomura Group into the equation established by our core business.

I believe that it is essential that we provide solutions through our main business for measures to reduce environmental load and for issues surrounding society and our customers.

One example of that incorporation is the distribution to date of 200,000 copies of a supplementary textbook, "The T-Shirt Shop", used in financial education classes for junior high school students. In March 2008, Nomura Group also published a second textbook, "The Economics Classroom", as a supplementary textbook for upper-grade elementary school students. We believe we are contributing to society by teaching Japan's young people the financial knowledge they will need in order to support the country as adults.

From a similar perspective of fostering future leaders, Nomura Group has supported the Pacific Music Festival (PMF) since 1990. The aim of our support for this cultural event has been to assist with building an environment that encourages young musicians and their supporters. Our support for PMF for almost twenty years has been made in the certain knowledge that it is helping the future of these talented individuals.

A "strong Nomura" in the good sense

Kenichi Watanabe President & CEO Nomura Holdings, Inc.

I believe that Nomura Group must be a "strong" corporate group in the good sense. And not just in Japan - I believe we should be competitive with a sense of purpose on the global stage. Even after the collapse of Japan's "bubble" economy, Nomura Group has continued to maintain offices in Bahrain and Eastern Europe. These countries recognized that commitment, and Nomura still commands praise there today as a result. I think that such a commitment to world class quality at home and abroad will be important for keeping a global presence. Having the strength to protect individual customers is also important as a Japanese investment bank. A variety of financial products and stocks are traded on financial markets, which involve a certain level of risk. We design products to match customers' levels of wealth and investment needs, and we also invest in our own products at the design stage to see in advance how they perform, in order to make sure that the level of quality is high. Each of us at Nomura Group must always be asking ourselves, "What can I do to make my work benefit society?" We must also behave ethically as professionals at all times. That is the true meaning of the expression "world class quality", and it is the way Nomura Group contributes to society through its core business.