Salomon May Buy Stake in Japan’s Nikko

Salomon Smith Barney, the securities branch of New York-based financial titan Travelers Group Inc., is reportedly planning to buy 10% to 20% of Nikko Securities, Japan’s third-largest brokerage firm. The purchase would be a foreign company’s first in a major Japanese securities house and would mark the latest foray by a major U.S. company into Japan’s newly deregulated financial system. The reforms, many of which took effect in April, are boosting foreign firms’ access to Japan’s huge pool of personal savings by removing restrictions on the creation and marketing of mutual funds and other investment products.