UK: 750 jobs axed at Lehman Brothers

Around 750 jobs were axed in the UK today by the administrators of collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers’ European arm.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said the “majority” of the job losses were in London, and blamed the cull on “the necessary restructuring” of the unit following the bankruptcy of its US parent earlier this month.

PwC partner Tony Lomas said: “It is extremely disappointing that, despite exhausting all avenues, these jobs could not be saved.

“We continue to be focused on maximising the value of recoveries for creditors, whilst minimising the impact on other stakeholders as much as possible.”

A spokesman for PwC said the cuts were mainly from the fixed income division, with a smaller number going from the personal investment management arm.

Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, filed for bankruptcy on September 15 after being hit by the credit crunch and a rescue deal falling through.

It employed around 4,500 people in the UK at the time of the collapse, most of them based in London.

Today’s redundancies follow a deal last week in which Japanese bank Nomura bought Lehman Brothers’ European equities and investment banking business.

Nomura said it would retain “a significant proportion” of the 2,500 staff employed by its investment banking and equities businesses.