< The 2015 Tech 50: Racers to the Edge

Close ties to the Japanese market, and particularly to the financial industry as it has coped with difficult economic cycles and capital constraints, set Nomura Research Institute apart from other systems integration and consulting firms. Launched a half century ago within Nomura Securities International, the now-independent, ¥406 billion ($3.4 billion)-in-revenue NRI was never insular — a predecessor company opened a New York office as early as 1967, and it operates in a growing number of Asian and European locations. Still, much of its reputation rests on a domestic foundation, including two long-standing client relationships (Nomura Holdings and retailer Seven & i Holdings) and support of bank and capital market infrastructure. Since the late 1980s, Yasuki Okai has had much to do with the latter: More than 60 percent of Tokyo Stock Exchange transactions, for example, run through the company’s Star and i-Star back-office systems. Tokyo-based NRI designed Japan’s national “My Number” social security identification system that goes into effect early next year and has helped 150 financial institutions prepare for it. In June, NRI announced a data management framework for compliance with Basel Committee on Banking Supervision principles for risk data aggregation and reporting. “With investment of $35 million in research and development for fiscal year ending March 2015, we keep on leading the industry,” says Okai. Until recently, as head of financial technology solutions, the 52-year-old spearheaded posttrade and other outsourcing initiatives to ease financial firms’ cost burdens. In June, Okai became president of NRI Holdings America in New York, leading a charge to “focus our efforts on robust global expansion,” says chairman, president and CEO Tadashi Shimamoto. Acquisitions are part of the plan; in April, NRI Holdings America bought Plano, Texas–based customer relationship management and loyalty systems company Brierley+Partners.

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The 2015 Tech 50

1. Jeffrey Sprecher Intercontinental Exchange 2. Catherine Bessant Bank of America Corp. Gold and Bitcoin Decouple. What's Driving the Divergence's? Sponsored by CME Group April 24, 2025 3. Phupinder Gill CME Group 4. Lance Uggla Markit 5. Robert Goldstein BlackRock

6. Shawn Edwards & Vlad Kliatchko Bloomberg 7. R. Martin Chavez Goldman Sachs Group 8. Deborah Hopkins Citi Ventures 9. Stephen Neff Fidelity Investments 10. Adena Friedman Nasdaq OMX Group

11. David Craig Thomson Reuters 12. Daniel Coleman KCG Holdings 13. Michael Spencer ICAP 14. Michael Bodson Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. 15. Charles Li Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

16. Chris Concannon BATS Global Markets 17. Christopher Perretta State Street Corp. 18. Antoine Shagoury London Stock Exchange Group 19. Kevin Rhein Wells Fargo & Co. 20. Neil Katz D.E. Shaw & Co.

21. Lee Olesky Tradeweb Markets 22. Richard McVey MarketAxess Holdings 23. Seth Merrin Liquidnet Holdings 24. Robert Alexander Capital One Financial Corp. 25. Frank Bisignano First Data Corp.

26. John Marcante Vanguard Group 27. Joseph Squeri Citadel 28. Lou Eccleston TMX Group 29. Claude Honegger Credit Suisse 30. Chris Corrado MSCI

31. David Gledhill DBS Bank 32. John Bates Software AG 33. Michael Cooper BT Radianz 34. Gary Scholten Principal Financial Group 35. Sunil Hirani trueEX Group

36. Hauke Stars Deutsche BÖrse 37. Brian Conlon First Derivatives 38. Jim Minnick eVestment 39. Lars Seier Christensen & Kim Fournais 40. Tyler Kim MaplesFS

41. Jim McGuire Charles Schwab Corp. 42. Steven O'Hanlon Numerix 43. Sebastián Ceria Axioma 44. Yasuki Okai NRI Holdings America 45. Stephane Dubois Xignite

46. Mazy Dar OpenFin 47. Brian Sentance Xenomorph Software 48. Mas Nakachi OpenGamma 49. John Lehner BNY Mellon Technology Solutions Group 50. Jock Percy Perseus