Tokyo: Former Nomura Securities Co chairman, Setsuya Tabuchi, credited with expanding the company into one of the world's largest brokerage houses during the high-flying 'bubble-economy' era, died of heart failure Thursday night, his family said Friday.

He was 84.

Tabuchi was president of then-Nomura Securities Co, currently Nomura Holdings Inc,  from 1978 to 1985, and chairman until 1991.

Tabuchi entered Nomura Securities, after graduating from the law faculty of Kyoto University in 1947.

He took the helm of the company at the age of only 54.

It was during his tenure that Nomura, Japan's biggest investment bank, also became the world's largest financial institution, with a market value of $76 billion. On 17 April 1987, Momura's valuation was 18 times that of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Tabuchi became synonymous with Japan's 'bubble' era, and was recognised as  `the kingmaker' in the securities industry. Yen's value swelled against the US dollar in the 1980's, helping create an asset bubble that pushed the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to 38,915 on 31 December 1989, from below 7,000 in 1980.

With the crash of Japan's benchmark index in the first nine months of 1990, it was also time for Tabuchi to go. He resigned a year after the crash when accused by the finance ministry of compensating favoured clients for losses.

According to Bloomberg data, with a market value of $29.4 billion, Nomura currently stands eighth among global investment banks, trailing seventh-ranked Merrill Lynch, which has a market capitalization of $32.2 billion.

The conversion of Nomura into an international financial powerhouse owed much to Tabuchi's efforts, desperate as he was to get out of tegh 'saturated' Japanese markets. This he achieved primarily through the transfer of top executives to overseas offices.

Tabuchi was reappointed a board member in 1995 but made his final exit in 1997 after Nomura found itself caught in another scandal, admitting it paid $3.3 million to corporate extortionists who were threatening to disrupt its 1995 annual general meeting.