Administrators say Lehman Brothers London staff may not be paid
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Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:08
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London - Staff employed at the British subsidiary of US bank Lehman Brothers face the prospect of not being paid this week, administrators PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) warned Monday. The US bank's main operation in Britain, where 4,500 people work, was placed into administration shortly after its US parent filed for bankruptcy protection. PWC partner Tony Lomas said at a news conference in London that picking over the firm's business in Britain was an "extraordinarily complex" task and would take a "significant" amount of time. Staff numbers would be downsized. Lomas indicated that the forthcoming wage bill was 42 million pounds (75 million dollars). "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."Lehman Brothers' London headquarters had received fresh cash for its operations from New York on a daily basis, Lomas explained. Lomas said he was "amazed that a business as huge as this can fail." To him, the events underlined the importance of business confidence which, once lost, could not be regained.
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