When Siddharth (known as "Sid") Prasad joined Nomura's
London office in 1989 straight from the London School of Economics
(LSE), his idea was to spend a couple of years gaining experience
before returning to his native India. But 11 years on, despite all
the turmoil that Nomura has been through, including the posting of
a $6 billion loss in March 1999, Prasad is still there. In August
last year he became co-head (with Seiichiro Miyaoka) of global debt
primary markets, the first business at Nomura to be organized along
global lines.
"I've had opportunities at Nomura I might not have got at other
firms," he says. A reputedly committed and hardworking individual,
he talks about his job with enthusiasm and at terrific speed.
"Nomura is like an unpolished jewel," he says. "We're a very
substantial firm, yet we don't have a high profile.
"There have been scandals...
