Germany urges US to find Lehman Brothers solution
Germany called on US authorities on Saturday to find a solution for crisis-hit bank Lehman Brothers before Asian markets reopen for trading early Monday.
By Agencies |
NICE: Germany called on US authorities on Saturday to find a solution for crisis-hit bank Lehman Brothers before Asian markets reopen for trading early Monday.
US officials have so far talked down a government rescue for the country's fourth-largest investment bank, which is racing to find a buyer to raise badly needed money it lost on bad bets on real estate holdings.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck ��� who manages the EU's largest economy ��� told reporters that "the news that is coming out of the US is bad," confirming that financial markets are still suffering sharply from a credit crisis that started last year.
Observers who had prematurely spoken of "a light at the end of the tunnel" now had to make sure that they weren't facing an oncoming train, he warned.
"We expect that a solution will be put forward before Asian markets open on Monday," Steinbrueck said on the sidelines of an EU finance ministers' meeting in Nice.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York held an emergency meeting Friday night with top Washington policymakers and major financial institutions to discuss the future of Lehman Brothers.
Analysts say other financial firms may swallow portions of Lehman's investment banking or bond trading business. Considering the firm's deep financial problems, riskier assets like its mortgage and real-estate portfolios could be sold for just pennies on the dollar.
On Friday, Lehman's stock closed at $3.65 ��� an all-time low and down nearly 95 percent from its 52-week high of $67.73 as investors grew more convinced that Lehman may be auctioned at fire-sale prices. The stock's plunge was a humiliating beating for the 158-year-old investment bank, one of Wall Street's oldest firms.
US officials have so far talked down a government rescue for the country's fourth-largest investment bank, which is racing to find a buyer to raise badly needed money it lost on bad bets on real estate holdings.
Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck ��� who manages the EU's largest economy ��� told reporters that "the news that is coming out of the US is bad," confirming that financial markets are still suffering sharply from a credit crisis that started last year.
Observers who had prematurely spoken of "a light at the end of the tunnel" now had to make sure that they weren't facing an oncoming train, he warned.
"We expect that a solution will be put forward before Asian markets open on Monday," Steinbrueck said on the sidelines of an EU finance ministers' meeting in Nice.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York held an emergency meeting Friday night with top Washington policymakers and major financial institutions to discuss the future of Lehman Brothers.
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Analysts say other financial firms may swallow portions of Lehman's investment banking or bond trading business. Considering the firm's deep financial problems, riskier assets like its mortgage and real-estate portfolios could be sold for just pennies on the dollar.
On Friday, Lehman's stock closed at $3.65 ��� an all-time low and down nearly 95 percent from its 52-week high of $67.73 as investors grew more convinced that Lehman may be auctioned at fire-sale prices. The stock's plunge was a humiliating beating for the 158-year-old investment bank, one of Wall Street's oldest firms.
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