Established in April 2004 and the only institution of its kind, the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research (NICMR) is dedicated to research on capital markets as well as the financial system, especially how they are regulated and organized and how they perform.

The Institute's main activities are (1) studying the relationship between the way the Japanese financial system is regulated and organized and how Japanese capital markets perform, in order to suggest possible improvements; (2) studying the latest developments in Western capital markets in order to discover whether there is such a thing as an ideal market economy; and (3) contributing to the development of capital markets in China and other emerging economies. By means of these three activities the Institute seeks to communicate its ideas not only to other companies in the Nomura Group but also to a wider audience both at home and overseas.

The Institute's research is intended, first and foremost, to be neutral, professional and practical. Rooted in practice, it aims to contribute to the healthy development of Japanese capital markets as well as to related policies by conducting neutral and professional studies of how these markets and the financial system are regulated and organized and how they perform.

In view of its position as a member of the Nomura Group staffed by specialists in close touch with Japan's securities markets, the Institute strongly believes that its research should be empirical.

The Japanese economy is changing all the time. The Institute hopes that, by responding to these changes positively, it can contribute to the dynamic development of the country's capital markets as well as of the economy itself.