Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Nomura Securities International Inc., a unit of Japan's largest securities firm, has withdrawn from the list of U.S. primary dealers, which trade with the Federal Reserve and are obligated to bid at Treasury auctions.

The brokerage's parent, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc., said last month it will cease making markets for Treasuries and close its Chicago office as it reorganizes its securities operations in the U.S. The firm became a primary dealer in 1986, three years before the Nikkei 225 Stock Average reached its peak. The New York Fed made the announcement today in an e-mail message.

``As previously announced, Nomura will focus on its core competencies in its U.S. operations,'' said Ralph Piscitelli, a New York-based spokesman for Nomura, in a statement read over the phone. ``Upon the conclusion of the review of our businesses, we've decided to exit the primary dealership in the U.S. effective today.''

Nomura Holdings said on Oct. 15 it would post its first quarterly pretax loss in more than four years after losing 73 billion yen ($656 million) on U.S. home loans. The firm also said it would cut 400 jobs in the U.S. Banks and securities firms around the world have announced more than $50 billion of credit losses tied to subprime home loans.

Nomura is the second firm this year to shed its primary dealer designation, reducing to 20 the number of banks and securities firms that trade with the New York Fed. CIBC World Markets Corp., a unit of Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, withdrew in February.

In the 1980s, as Japan boosted purchases of U.S. debt, six Japanese securities firms became primary dealers: Fuji Securities Inc., Sanwa Securities Co., Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Nomura, Nikko Securities Co. and Yamaichi International Inc. Daiwa and Mizuho Financial Group Inc., which evolved out of a merger that included Fuji's parent, are the only two left.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sandra Hernandez in New York at shernandez4@bloomberg.net; Ye Xie in New York at yxie6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 30, 2007 18:21 EST