UK staff at collapsed bank may not be paid

UK staff of collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers face the prospect of not being paid this week, administrators warned today.

The bank’s main UK operation – which employs around 4,500 people – was placed into administration today shortly after its US parent filed for bankruptcy protection.

Administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said picking over the firm’s UK business was an “extraordinarily complex” task and would take a “significant” amount of time. Staff numbers will also be “downsized”, the firm added.

PWC partner Tony Lomas, who indicated the forthcoming wage bill was $75m (€52.8m), said: “(The administration) is a period of stress and distress for the people.

“We started the day with no certainty that we would have cash available to make payment due at the end of this week. We still don’t know what the position is.

He added: “There’s a huge number of transactions here of vast values. It’s going to take quiet some significant time to unravel all the affairs of this company.”

The collapse of Lehman Brothers – whose history dates back to 1850 – caused meltdown in global financial markets.

London’s leading share index slumped more than 5% at one point before losses eased to less than 4%. There were also hefty stock market losses in New York and around Europe.