Lehman fixed income staff laid off

By John Hill on September 30, 2008 5:50 PM |

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ADMINISTRATORS sorting through the wreckage of Lehman Brothers have laid off 750 employees with immediate effect.

Sources from within the stricken bank's Wharf headquarters report that representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers informed staff this afternoon that their security clearance was revoked and they were to leave by 5pm. The cuts will mainly hit the fixed income arm, with other losses coming in the personal investment management team.

The move comes after a buyer did not emerge for the fixed income division, which is one of the remaining Lehman operations not snapped up by rivals since the Wall Street giant filed for bankruptcy two weeks ago.

Japanese bank Nomura has promised to retain a "significant amount" of the 2,000 employees in the investment banking and equities divisions in Canary Wharf after announcing a deal last week. But PricewaterhouseCoopers decided a "restructuring" of the remaining business was necessary after "exhausting all avenues".

PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Tony Lomas said: "It is extremely disappointing that despite exhausting all avenues these jobs could not be saved.
"As we move into our third week, we continue to be focussed on maximising the value of recoveries for creditors, whilst minimising the impact on other stakeholders as much as possible."