Daiwa Pauses M&A Hiring as Tariff Uncertainty Chokes Deal Flow

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boss Akihiko Oginosaid the Japan brokerage won’t be pushing to add staff working on mergers and acquisitions, providing a downbeat assessment on the impact to dealmaking from US President Donald Trump’s trade policy.

“We had originally planned to steadily increase the headcount, but I have issued an instruction to hold it for a bit,” Ogino said in a recent interview.

Akihiko Ogino

Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg

The assessment from Japan’s second-largest brokerage indicates how changes in global trade policy are rippling through spending activity as finance firms around the world signal investment banking fees could decline amid the turbulence.

“Typically, ...