The Times reports that Nomura International is in a legal spat with a City headhunter over fees of up to $148m, which the recruiter is said to be claiming in connection with the introduction of staff to the Japanese firm following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Although Nomura acquired the bulk of Lehman's M&A and investment banking employees in Europe & Asia after Lehman filed for bankruptcy last year, the Japanese firm apparently instructed a number of headhunters, including Hogarth Davies Lloyd, to identify fixed income and other top talent that it would not be picking up. According to The Times, up to 250 bankers were eventually hired through this route, and Hogarth Davies Lloyd clearly feels that it should be paid for any individuals it introduced.

Nomura is understood to have a longstanding contract with the headhunter, but is disputing the size of the fee the recruiter has submitted, describing it as 'misconceived' and a 'commercially absurd amount'. One recruiter told Here Is The City: 'I have some sympathy for Nomura in these circumstances, as, when Lehman went to the wall, the firm would have been receiving hundreds of CVs (both solicited and unsolicited) from recruiters, and there would also have been a number of candidates being referred by Nomura employees. In the hectic atmosphere of the time, it may be difficult to work out exactly who made some of the introductions. In addition, the sheer size of this recruitment exercise may call for some commonsense on fees payable. There should probably be some kind of fee cap'.

The spat is thought unlikely, however, to make it to court, and a settlement is expected. 'It is not in the interest of either party to have this matter aired in public,' another recruiter told us. 'Nomura will not want the vagaries of its recruitment processes made public, and no headhunter likes to take a client to court. It's just not good for business'.

Finally, UK recruiter Morgan McKinley's Employment Monitor has revealed that the number of job vacancies in July were 59% down compared to the same period in 2008.

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