UK staff working for Lehman Brothers could go unpaid this month after it became apparent that the firm had run out of money.
The US investment bank, which filed for bankruptcy yesterday (15 September), employs about 5,000 people in the UK.
Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said it was unclear whether Lehman’s UK staff would get paid the $75m (£42m) they are owed in wages this month.
“When we took over this morning, there was no cash in the company,” said Tony Lomas, lead administrator at PwC. “We still don’t know what the position is – we will tell staff as soon as we know if we can, or if it is appropriate to pay staff on Friday.”
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Lehman employs about 25,000 staff worldwide and was founded in 1850 by three brothers. Staff have been pictured leaving offices with cardboard boxes full of their possessions.
It is understood that staff have not formally been made redundant, but the majority are expected to be laid off in the coming days.
