Nomura International has started a headcount reduction of its Angel Lane Principal Strategies (ALPS), a division that speculates on markets with capital provided by the bank, following a review. It is rumored the whole unit could have its days numbered. Nomura cut a number of London equity proprietary traders last year as part of its $1bn cost-cutting exercise, with more than 50% of the savings understood to be coming from the bank's European operations. Ivan Marcinko, a proprietary trader at