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The 2015 Tech 50: Yasuki Okai
The Nomura Research Institute Holdings president jumps to No. 44 on this year’s Tech 50 ranking.

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.
See the full story, “The 2015 Tech 50: Racers to the Edge.”
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![]() 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 |