Nomura Blames Biggest-Ever Loss on ‘Incompetent’ Bond Trader
- Bank says Lombardo’s inaction helped cause $40 million loss
- Giovanni Lombardo suing Nomura in London for unfair dismissal
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A Nomura Holdings Inc. trader who failed to tell his bosses about the deteriorating performance of a client that helped cause the bank’s biggest-ever trading loss was "at best incompetent or at worst deceitful,” a senior manager said during the first day of a London employment lawsuit.
Giovanni Lombardo, who is suing the bank for unfair dismissal, "did nothing" to prevent losses resulting from the 2015 demise of his client Invexstar Capital Management Ltd., Mike Ward, Nomura’s head of equity sales, said in a statement submitted Friday to the court. Lombardo, who will probably give evidence next week, will claim it was not his responsibility to monitor his client’s trades, according to Ward’s statement.