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SINGAPORE: Lehman Brothers' Singapore operations came to a halt a day after it filed for protection from bankruptcy.
The Singapore Exchange has suspended the firm from taking new securities and derivatives positions, and the Singapore central bank has also directed Lehman entities in Singapore to seek its approval before paying out any of their own funds to third parties.
The bank has suspended other operations in the region and has ceased to trade on the Hong Kong securities and futures market.
However, the fate of its employees at the Suntec City office remains uncertain.
Outside Suntec Tower Five, business seemed to carry on as usual. But on Lehman Brothers' 11th floor office, the mood was likely to be far bleaker.
Channel NewsAsia was refused entry into the building, but sources said the firm is unwinding its current trading positions, and is no longer taking new ones.
There has been no indication about whether the bank's 270 staff in Singapore have already lost their jobs. Employees declined to comment on the situation.
For many professionals at Raffles Place, the latest collapse has raised many doubts.
"To a certain extent, it's quite worrying. Looking at the current situation, we don't know who will be the next target," said one of them.
The second said, "It's very unfortunate that the credit crisis, which started last year, has opened a mouth big enough to engulf such a giant."
The third said, "You don't know who is going to go down next. Speculation is rife that it could be anyone. It could be AIG, there are so many entities people are talking about".
Singapore's three lenders DBS, UOB and OCBC have said their exposure to Lehman Brothers is insignificant.
-CNA/yt
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