Nomura slashes European exposure amid debt crisis fear

Japanese bank Nomura has slashed assets linked to Italy by 83%, among other cuts, on debt crisis fears, Bloomberg reports.

Nomura pared back its exposure to Italy from $2.82bn to $467m as of 24 November, according to a company statement released yesterday. The firm also cut assets linked to Spain by 62% to $175m, and those exposed to Greece by 43% to $27m. Nomura shares have dropped in value by 53% this year on concerns the bank's heavy European exposure would lead to losses. The brokerage has moved to cut jobs and slash annual costs by $1.2bn, mainly in Europe, in an effort to avoid a downgrade by Moody's, Bloomberg reports. Today Moody's warned it may cut the credit ratings of banks in 15 countri...