The current Mizuho Securities is established by a merger between Shinko Securities and the former Mizuho Securities. The former Shinko Securities (a former equity-method affiliate of Mizuho Financial Group) and the former Mizuho Securities (a former consolidated subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group) merged on 7 May 2009. The effective date of the merger was postponed a couple of times due to the financial crisis.[1] The surviving entity was the former Shinko Securities, which changed its name to Mizuho Securities upon the merger. After the merger, Mizuho Financial Group holds 59.51% equity ownership of the new Mizuho Securities.[2] In 2004, the Polaris Capital Group was divested, focusing on private equity investment.[3] Mizuho Securities is involved in bond and stock trading, debt and equity financing, and advisory services for structured finance; its clients include financial institutions, public corporations, and institutional investors or firms.[4] It also issues buy and sell ratings for publicly traded stocks.[5] During the early 2000s, it was considered to be one of the "big four" firms that controlled a large portion of Japanese trading.[6] In December 2005, an employee at Mizuho Securities placed an erroneous sell order of J-COM Co., Ltd. shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange,[7] resulting in a loss of approximately ¥40.7 billion.[8]
Mizuho Securities then brought a case for its damages against the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) as they could not cancel the order due to a fault in the TSE's computer system.[9] The president of TSE resigned in 2005.[10] Mizuho was awarded approximately ¥10.7 billion.[7] Mizuho Securities operates several subsidiaries, including Mizuho Securities USA, where the CEO is Gerald Rizzieri.[11][12]
