Nomura Holdings plans to assign Yoshihiko Sunaga, a senior executive at Japan’s biggest brokerage, to oversee its Brexit preparations in anticipation of tough decisions and a tight timetable for managing the move, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Tokyo-based Sunaga would oversee the shift of potentially more than 100 employees to Frankfurt from London as well as possible recruitment in the German city, the person said, asking not to be identified. Nomura expects the transition to be difficult given that many workers may be reluctant to leave London, the person said.
Sunaga, a former head of the financial planning department, will next month become a senior managing director, a level on par with top executives, Nomura said this week. For the Brexit role, it wants to base him in Tokyo to ensure decision-making is as speedy and objective as possible, according to the person. 
He will work closely with a committee led by Nomura’s Europe chief Jonathan Lewis, which has been managing the transition until now.
There is a growing sense of urgency among banks to step up Brexit preparations as concerns mount that Prime Minister Theresa May is failing to make sufficient progress in talks with European Union officials on a path for the UK’s departure from the bloc by next March. 
The risk of a so-called hard Brexit may prompt financial firms to take quick decisions on moving more operations from London to maintain access to the EU market.
Nomura shares fell 0.5% in Tokyo to close at ¥631.8 last week, the lowest since September.
Even aside from the challenges posed by Brexit, Nomura’s workers in Europe have been under pressure to boost earnings in a region that remains less profitable than the US and Asia. Chief executive officer Koji Nagai has said that he may cut jobs in Europe as he adds staff in the US, where he’s making a push in investment banking.
Nomura, whose roughly 3,000 staff in Europe are mainly in the British capital, picked Frankfurt last year as the headquarters for its EU operations after the UK leaves. It may lease two additional floors in the Rathenauplatz 1 building where it already occupies one level, the person said. Tokyo-based spokesman Kenji Yamashita declined to comment.
The panel headed by Lewis has been communicating with financial authorities and analysing risks tied to Brexit since it was set up shortly after the 2016 referendum.
Nagai, who was reappointed CEO last week, has been cutting costs since he took the post in 2012. While the firm’s overseas businesses returned to profit last fiscal year, its European operations earned the least. Nomura eliminated about 900 positions, mainly in Europe and the Americas, in the year ended March 2017.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Daiwa Securities Group are among other Japanese firms that are planning to set up securities units in Frankfurt ahead of Brexit. 
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has chosen Amsterdam as a base for its investment banking business, and also plans to set up a securities branch in Paris.