Nomura's FX exodus follows exit of popular boss: "A phenomenal individual"

Nomura's FX business is not what it was. Bloomberg reported this week that eight people have left and noted that the Japanese bank hired David Leigh from Deutsche Bank to find some replacements. 

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By our reckoning, Nomura has in fact lost at least nine people in FX. Many left in the second half of last year; some have left in 2025.

The most recent defector, Radwan El Chab, left for Citadel this month. El Chab, who joined from Deutsche Bank in 2023, had barely been at Nomura 18 months. He's joined Citadel's London office. 

He follows a long line of Nomura's other FX traders out the door. Sarah Sparke, a senior UK-based FX saleswoman, went to BNY in June. Finlay Hind went to Morgan Stanley in August. Ashvin Parkash, Nomura's Singapore-based the head of global markets trading for Asia, went to BNY in December. Gunnar Tyler-Henning left his job on Nomura's FX options desk for hedge fund Walleye in November. 

Another four people are understood to have left a Nomura desk run by Yakeen Mirchandani, who focuses on emerging markets. They included Joe Franklin, Neil Gear, Saad Mjabber and David Thursfield. The FCA register says Franklin left on December 6th; Gear left on November 12th; Mjabber left in late October and Thursfield went in August. Mirchandani, who insiders say is a "nice guy" is understood to be frantically looking for replacements. 

What's up with Nomura's FX business? Nomura declined to comment for this article, but it's understood that the recent exits aren't down to profitability (the desk reportedly made $50m from pre-election trades alone), but to management. Specifically, Kevin Connors, the bank's former co-global head of FX, left in September. Nomura insiders say Connors' exit was a surprise, and not in a good way. 

"Before Connors came, Nomura was an erratic shop to work for," says one insider at the bank. "He was the reason people here were invested in this business. He was a phenomenal individual who would fight for the EMEA team to be properly compensated. People don't want to stick around and see what this business is like without him." 

Connors, who didn't comment for this article, joined Nomura in 2021. As co-global head of FX, he worked alongside incumbent Nagaraj Pangal, who's based at Nomura's Singapore office. Pangal is understood to have focused on trading while Connors, who previously worked for Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, focused on sales. 

Why did Connors leave three and a half years after joining? Itchy feet are a possibility, but insiders say his exit was a mystery. The FX business was thriving under his leadership. "There were no performance issues, his numbers were stunning," observes one insider. The suspicion is that something occurred behind the scenes.

After Connors left, Nomura moved quickly to fill the gap he left behind. David Leigh joined from Deutsche in November and is the new co-head of the business alongside Pangal. Both London-based Leigh and Singapore-based Pangal report to Rig Karkhanis, Nomura's Singapore-based head of global markets. Pangal and Karkhanis are thought to be close, having to worked together in Asia for a decade.  

Although Leigh is widely seen as a "nice guy", insiders say the FX exits at Nomura aren't over yet and that he may struggle to hire from rivals. "The market knows that things aren't easy here," says one. The suspicion is that the Japanese bank will try and pluck unsuccessful portfolio managers from hedge funds as it replenishes its team. They can be cheap and easy to move. 

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