Lehman Brothers ban collapse threatens thousands of jobs

Sep 15 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

THOUSDANDS of jobs were at risk today after the UK arm of troubled investment bank Lehman Brothers was placed into administration.

The move follows Lehman’s US holding company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning.

Tony Lomas, partner with administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: “Because the group managed its funding on a global basis, the UK trading operation found itself unable to meet its obligations when the flow of funds dried up last night.”

Lehman Brothers is thought to employ around 5,000 people in the UK.

PWC was appointed administrator of Lehman Brothers International (Europe).

It means Lehman Brothers, the principal UK trading company in the 158-year-old Lehman group, is in administration along with three other companies.

PWC said it was working to “wind down the business in as orderly a manner as possible”.

Mr Lomas added: “Our priority now is to work with management and trading counterparties to agree the manner in which the assets and liabilities will be handled.”

Lehman Brothers has been hit by billions of dollars-worth of sub-prime mortgage losses. Its UK collapse and US bankruptcy petition makes it the biggest casualty of the financial crisis afflicting global markets over the past year.