Lehman Brothers shut the doors of its futures brokerage in Asia after the close of business on Tuesday September 16, simultaneously confirming the inevitable demise of almost all its 3,000 employee-strong Asian operations as the region’s exchanges moved to suspend the firm from their platforms.
In a brief statement, the bank said Lehman Brothers Futures Asia Ltd, along with Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd and Lehman Brothers Securities Asia Ltd, had “suspended operations with immediate effect”.
A separate statement also confirmed Lehman Brothers Japan Inc and Lehman Brothers Holdings Japan Inc had commenced “civil rehabilitation procedures” – the Japanese equivalent of bankruptcy protection – following the imposition of a business suspension order by Japan’s Financial Services Agency on Monday September 15.
Japan and Hong Kong – Lehman’s biggest Asian bases – both had public...