Lehman post-war Japan's second biggest bankruptcy

TOKYO: US investment bank Lehman Brothers' units in Japan have liabilities of 3.9 trillion yen (37.5 bn dollars), making its bankruptcy Tuesday the second biggest in modern Japan, a survey said.

Lehman Brothers, which collapsed Monday on Wall Street, had counted Asia's largest economy as one of its key markets, mostly for institutional investors.

Tokyo-based Lehman Brothers Japan Inc filed for and was granted bankruptcy protection from the Tokyo District Court, a company statement said.

It did not list its liabilities or assets, but Teikoku Databank, a private credit watch agency, said Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. had 3.4 trillion yen in liabilities as of the end of August.





Lehman Brothers Holdings Japan Inc, its holding firm which filed separately for bankruptcy, also had 516 bn yen in liabilities, Teikoku Databank said.

It marked the second biggest bankruptcy in Japan since the end of World War II.

The biggest failure was Kyoei Life Insurance, which went bust with liabilities of 4.53 trillion yen in October 2000, it said.

Japan's financial watchdog on Monday ordered the local unit of Lehman Brothers to halt operations until September 26. It also ordered the unit to retain enough assets locally to match its liabilities.