Lehman Brothers’ Indian employees may get retention bonuses on top of their existing salaries from Nomura, following its acquisition of Lehman, reports the Economic Times.

Nomura is believed to have indicated its intentions to give the same bonus that employees received in 2007, over the next two years. Top-level employees of Lehman in India may jointly get nearly $25 to 30 million. Members of the top team, including Jotwani, Surojit Shome, Pankaj Vaish, Prabhat Awasthi, and others, are expected to be offered $30 million.

Nomura is believed to be planning a compensation plan for Asian employees based on their salaries in the previous year. Presently, the company’s Indian staff  are said to be in the process of signing employment contracts with Nomura. This is part of Nomura’s efforts to ensure employees' financial security. Senior management is said to have conveyed to staff that they will be taken care of, and is trying its best to retain its employees. Nomura has earmarked a $1 billion global "bonus pool" in this regard.

Nomura Holdings acquired Lehman Asia for $225 million in August. Of nearly 3,000 Lehman employees in Asia, 170 are working in India. However, Lehman Brothers Financial Services, Lehman’s BPO in Powai with more than 2,200 people, was not included in the takeover.

It is said that the acquisition may not turn out well for many of its employees. This is attributed to the cultural differences between the organisations and the fact that the company is not known to be a good paymaster. Some employees may also be asked to leave. X

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