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Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/Bloomberg

As the European ban on bundling research with brokerage services looms, Nomura Holdings Inc. has proposed that clients pay as much as 120,000 euros ($134,000) a year to access their favorite analysts.

That’s what the Japanese bank quoted in April for an all-inclusive "premium offering," according to a pricing document seen by Bloomberg News. While Nomura said pricing is still fluid and it’s being flexible in talks with clients, the guidance may indicate how banks and their clients will settle on how to value something they’ve rarely charged for.

The European Union’s MiFID II regulations, which will be enforced from Jan. 3, aim to tackle conflicts of interest by requiring asset managers to separate the trading commissions they pay from investment-research fees. Banks have worked to find a model to sell their research at a price that won’t drive away clients, while also not being so low that regulators accuse them of gaming the system.

Nomura’s premium offering includes all analyst reports on global economics, fixed income, credit and foreign exchange, as well as services such as access to analysts and invitations to events. Different "a la carte" options would let clients purchase research reports only, with extra per-hour fees to talk to analysts of varying seniority at rates still to be determined.

A press officer for Nomura said the April prices have since changed, without delineating the new quotes, and declined to comment further.

Banks and Clients Tussle Over What It Will Cost to Read Analysts

Among the cheaper options: to only get currency and economic reports, Nomura was quoting 60,000 euros. For emerging markets research, or a fixed income and credit analysis package, the prices rose to 80,000 euros. The document didn’t give any quotes for equity research, and said the prices, denominated in euros, are all indicative and “subject to contract.”

Kevin Gaynor, Nomura’s head of international research, and colleagues Lyn Comerford and Wissam Farah, head of EMEA sales, are leading the negotiations on fixed-income pricing.

Nomura has 300 research specialists around the world, according to its website. Institutional Investor ranked the firm as the joint top Japan researcher on a team basis in 2017, along with Mizuho Financial Group Inc.’s securities unit.

— With assistance by Marcus Wright

( Adds the number of research specialists in final paragraph. )