Nomura Holdings, Inc. announced that Kenichi Watanabe, chief executive officer at the company has decided to step down to take the blame for a series of insider information leaks at Nomura Securities Co. Earlier in 2012, Nomura Securities management were found to have leaked insider information to customers, including Chuo Mitsui Asset Trust and Banking Co., about public offerings planned by Inpex Corp., Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. While apologizing for the scandal, Watanabe had earlier denied any intention to resign and stated in June that he needed to carry out measures to prevent a recurrence of such leaks. The company also said Group Chief Operating Officer Takumi Shibata will step down over the scandal at core brokerage unit Nomura Securities Co. Nomura Securities President Koji Nagai, who took on the job in April, will succeed Watanabe as group CEO, while Atsushi Yoshikawa, executive vice president for the Americas at Nomura Holdings, has been named group COO. The appointments of Nagai, 53, and Yoshikawa, 58, will take effect on July 25, the day after the resignations of Watanabe, 59, and Shibata, 59. The company also announced the retirement of Kenichi Watanabe and Takumi Shibata as directors, effective July 31, 2012. The company also announced the retirement of Yugo Ishida, Hitoshi Tada, Philip Lynch, Yoshinori Go and Takaaki Naito as Senior Managing Directors. It also announced the appointment of Toshio Morita as Executive Managing Director, effective August 1, 2012. The company also announced the changes in responsibilities of the following executives: Atsushi Yoshikawa-Group COO; Wholesale CEO; Hiromasa Yamazaki-Wholesale Division; Yutaka Nakajima-Fixed Income Division, NSC; Takashi Abiko-Fixed Income Division, NSC; Tomoyuki Teraguchi-Fixed Income COO, Equities COO; Norikazu Akedo-Joint Head of Asia Pacific Equities; Samuel Ruiz-Head of Equities, EMEA; Kentaro Okuda-Joint Head of Investment Banking; Hiroshi Matsutani-Investment Banking, NSC; Kimizo Hayakawa-Investment Banking Division, NSC; Hironori Momose-Investment Banking Division, NSC; Manabu Nomura-Investment Banking Division, NSC; Shoichi Sakakibara-Public Sector Institutions, Financial Sector Institutions, NSC; Kenji Kimura-Investment Banking, NSC; Toshiyasu Iiyama-Investment Banking, NSC; Tsukasa Ojima-Investment Banking, NSC; Kohei Sato to lead in Osaka; Masato Matsuo-Osaka Branch Manager; Kohei Jo to lead in Nagoya; Piero Novelli-Joint Head of Global M&A. For Retail sector: Toshio Morita-Retail CEO; Juntaro Kimura-Financial Management & Wealth Management; Eiichiro Yamaguchi-Head of Area Operations; Hideki Shimizu-Head of Area Operations; Masaru Mizutani-Financial Management & Wealth Management; Hiroaki Honda-Retail Strategy and Financial Advisors; Satoshi Arai-Financial Instruments and Services; Masahiko Maekawa-Investment Banking (IPO in Japan); Masato Matsumi-Head of Kitanihon, Shinetsu & Hokuriku Operations; Yasuto Fukunishi-Head of Metropolitan Operations; Koichi Takahashi-Head of Metropolitan Operations; Minoru Torii-Head of Tokai Operations; Junichi Jozuka-Head of Kinki Operations; Osamu Kurisaki-Head of Chugoku, Shikoku & Kyushu Operations; and Koki Miura-Wealth Management, Asia. For Regional Management sector: Tetsu Ozaki-Deputy President, NSC; Eiji Kutsukake-Deputy President, NSC; David Findlay-Regional CEO, Americas (in New York); Toshiya Hasegawa-Regional Co-CEO, Americas (in New York); Takeo Sumino-COO, Americas (in New York); Jonathan Lewis-Co-Deputy CFO; Paul Spanswick-Co-Group CAO (Co-CIO, Global Operations) (in London); Shoichi Nagamatsu-Compliance Division, Corporate Planning, NSC; Masaji Yanagi-Compliance Division, NSC; Minoru Kobayashi-General Services Dept., NSC; Ritsuro Koza-General Services & Visual Contents Products, NSC; David Graham-Head of Wholesale Legal; Hiroyuki Suzuki-Co-Group CAO (Co-CIO, Global Operations); Chie Toriumi-Corporate Office (Group Strategy); Maria Bentley-Head of HR for Wholesale and EMEA; Koji Iida-Human Resources.