Form of Corporate Governance
A Company with Three Board Committees establishes Nomination, Audit and Compensation Committees, which are each to be comprised of a majority of Outside Directors, and in addition to striving to enhance management oversight and improve transparency by separating management oversight and business execution functions, it is a structure that makes it possible to strive to expedite the decision-making process by broadly delegating authority for the execution of business functions from the Board of Directors to the Executive Officers.
At the Company, which is a Company with Three Board Committees where management oversight and business execution functions are institutionally separated, in addition to the Board of Directors and the Nomination/Audit/Compensation committees, which are the three statutory committees, both the “Board Risk Committee”, which is a committee that has the purpose of deepening the oversight of risk management by the Board of Directors and the “Outside Directors Meeting” for having Outside Directors periodically engage in discussions regarding matters concerning the Company’s business and corporate governance, have been established.
Board of Directors
The main role of the Company’s Board of Directors is management oversight and the purpose of the Board of Directors of the Company is to strive for the Company’s sustainable growth and maximization of corporate value over the mid to long-term. The Board of Directors, in addition to ensuring the fairness and transparency of the management, determines the “Fundamental Management Policy,” and appointments of Executive Officers that manage the Company such as the Group CEO and important business execution decisions are made based on such policy.
The Board of Directors of the Company, to enable active discussion from diversified perspectives, consists of members with diversity such as nationality, gender and background and expertise. Directors bring to the Board a variety of extensive experience in different fields that help in the determination of important management matters and effective business oversight. Further, for the appropriate exercise of the Board of Directors’ management oversight functions, there is a general rule that the majority of the Board of Directors must be Outside Directors.
The Board of Directors is chaired by a Director who is not concurrently serving as an Executive Officer, allowing the Board of Directors to concentrate on overseeing the business conducted by the Executive Officers.
Nomura Holdings Corporate Governance Guidelines (PDF 496KB)
We have established Independence Criteria for Outside Directors (PDF 180KB) within the Nomination Committee to ensure the independence of Outside Directors from Nomura Group. As none of the nine Outside Directors of Nomura Holdings fall under the categories for which independence is considered questionable, we have reported that each of the Outside Directors is an independent Director in our submission to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Composition of the Board of Directors (as of June 27, 2023)
* Please scroll horizontally to look at table below.
Name | Positions | Skill | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corporate Management |
International Business |
Financial Industry |
Accounting/ Financial |
Legal Systems/ Regulations |
Internal Control (Including Risk Management) |
Digital (IT)・DX |
Sustainability | ||
Koji Nagai | Non-Executive Director (Chairman of the Board of Directors) |
〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||||
Kentaro Okuda | Represen tative Executive Officer, President Group CEO |
〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||||
Yutaka Nakajima | Represen tative Executive Officer and Deputy President |
〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||||
Shoji Ogawa | Non-Executive Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | |||||
Noriaki Shimazaki | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | |||
Kazuhiko Ishimura | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | |||||
Laura Simone Unger | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||||
Victor Chu | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||
J. Christopher Giancarlo | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | |||
Patricia Mosser | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | ||||
Takahisa Takahara | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | |||||
Miyuki Ishiguro | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 | ||||||
Masahiro Ishizuka | Outside Director | 〇 | 〇 |
Support System for Directors
The Company has established an Office of Non-Executive Directors and Audit Committee to support the work of the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors. The office acts as the secretariat of the Audit Committee and supports Directors in the performance of their duties by such means as regularly providing information on management to Outside Directors.
In connection with meetings of the Board of Directors, the Company, by using occasions such as briefings prior to Meetings of the Board of Directors, continuously provides updates to Outside Directors regarding important matters of the Company, including business content, business plans, financial status, and governance structures such as the internal controls system.
In addition, an Outside Director may request an explanation or report and/or request materials from Executive Officers and employees as necessary. An Outside Director may consult legal, accounting, or other outside experts at the Company's expense, as necessary.
Management Status of the Board of Directors
Separate from Board of Directors meetings, meetings comprising only Outside Directors are held, where matters such as the strategy of Nomura Group and the management of the Board of Directors are discussed to help strengthen the oversight function.
Number of Meetings of Board of Directors | 11 (from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023) |
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Main Items Discussed by the Board of Directors
Key Deliberations | |
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Succession Plan for Group CEO |
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Determination of Outside Director Nominees |
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Determination of Inside Director Nominees |
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Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Board of Directors
We have been conducting evaluations on the effectiveness of the Board of Directors since the fiscal year ended March 2016. Each Director assesses the management of the Board of Directors, including the quantity and quality of information offered and discussions by the Board of Directors. Based on those results, they also share their findings at Board of Directors Meetings as well as Outside Directors Meetings, and further discuss about issues found with other Directors including Executive Officers in order to continue strengthening their oversight function.
Through evaluation of these discussions and findings, the Board of Directors found the effectiveness of Board of Directors is generally at an almost good level this year as well. As a company with Three Board Committees structure, we ensure to accelerate the Group's decisionmaking process, and we are enhancing the ability to utilize of all members' expertise either during or outside of Board of Directors Meetings, to further enrich the function of the Board of Directors.

Evaluation Items |
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Response to Results |
Response to Results from Previous Year
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Independence Criteria for Outside Directors of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (PDF 180KB)
Outside Director's Interview
Corporate Governance System
as of June 27, 2023

* Please scroll horizontally to look at table below.
Chairman | Ratio of Outside Directors | No. of Times Held (Average Attendance Rate) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Board of Directors | Non-Executive Directors | 67% | 11 (98%) |
Nomination Committee | Outside Directors | 67% | 8 (100%) |
Compensation Committee | Outside Directors | 67% | 7 (100%) |
Audit Committee | Outside Directors | 67% | 15 (100%) |
Board Risk Committee | Outside Directors | 83% | 5 (93%) |
Outside Directors Meetings | Outside Directors | 100% | 4 (100%) |
Committees
Nomination Committee
This Committee determines the details of any proposals concerning the election and dismissal of Directors to be submitted to general meetings of shareholders based on determined standards relating to personality, insight, ethics, expertise and experience in corporate management independence and others.
The current members of this Committee are: Outside Directors Kazuhiko Ishimura and Takahisa Takahara, and Koji Nagai, a Director not concurrently serving as an Executive Officer. This Committee is chaired by Kazuhiko Ishimura.
Audit Committee
This Committee (i) audits the execution by the Directors and Executive Officers of their duties and the preparation of audit reports and (ii) determines the details of proposals concerning the election, dismissal, and non-reappointment of the independent auditors to be submitted to general meetings of shareholders.
The current members of the Committee are: Outside Directors Noriaki Shimazaki, Victor Chu and Masahiro Ishizuka and a Director not concurrently serving as an Executive Officer and a full-time member, Shoji Ogawa. All committee members satisfy requirements for independence in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This Committee is chaired by Noriaki Shimazaki. Noriaki Shimazaki and Masahiro Ishizuka are Financial Experts under this Act and has comprehensive knowledge in the areas of finance and accounting.
Compensation Committee
This Committee determines the Company's policy with respect to the determination of the details of each Director and Executive Officer's compensation. The committee also determines the details of each Director and Executive Officer's actual compensation. The current members of this committee are: Outside Directors Kazuhiko Ishimura and Takahisa Takahara, and Koji Nagai, a Director not concurrently serving as an Executive Officer. This Committee is chaired by Kazuhiko Ishimura.
Board Risk Committee
The Board Risk Committee is a non-statutory organ, of which purpose is to assist the Board of Directors in supervising Nomura Group’s risk management and to contribute to sophistication of the risk management. The current members of this committee are: Outside Directors Laura Simone Unger, Noriaki Shimazaki, Victor Chu, J. Christopher Giancarlo, Patricia Mosser and Miyuki Ishiguro and Shoji Ogawa, a Director not concurrently serving as an Executive Officer. This Committee is chaired by Laura Simone Unger.
Business Execution by Executive Officers
As a Company with Three Board Committees, The Board of Directors has, to the extent permitted by laws and regulations, delegated decision-making authority for business execution to Executive Officers to ensure that they can execute the Company’s business with speed and efficiency. Among the matters of business delegated to the Executive Officers by resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors, certain important matters must be decided upon deliberation by specific management bodies within the Company, including the Executive Management Board, the Group Risk Management Committee, the Sustainability Committee and the Internal Controls Committee. The Board of Directors shall receive reports on the status of the deliberations at the Executive Management Board, etc. at least once every three months.
In order to further bolster our business execution framework for financial business that is becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized, we utilize a system whereby the Executive Officers delegate a part of their authority for business execution decisions to Senior Managing Directors, whose role is to focus on individual businesses and operations.