A claim, reportedly worth £90m in unpaid fees, by City headhunter Hogarth Davies Lloyd, has been decribed as ‘misconceived’ by Japanese banking firm Nomura.

The Times reports that following Nomura’s purchase of most of Lehman’s M&A and investment banking employees in Europe & Asia after Lehman filed for bankruptcy last autumn, Nomura apparently instructed a number of headhunters, including Hogarth Davies Lloyd, to identify fixed income and other top talent that it would not be picking up.

In a statement, Stephen Sidebottom, head of human resources Europe at Nomura, said: “There is a dispute about the extent of HDL’s role in the Lehman Brothers’ acquisition and the fee that is properly due. The claim is misconceived and HDL is seeking a commercially absurd sum. Nomura will not comment further.”