The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is applauding the news that the UK’s Barclays Capital is stepping up to buy the U.S. broker dealer operations of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Barclays announced today that, subject to U.S. Court and relevant regulatory approvals, it will acquire trading assets with a current estimated value of US$72 billion and trading liabilities with a current estimated value of US$68 billion for a cash consideration of US25 million. Barclays will also acquire the New York headquarters of Lehman as well as its two data centres at close to their current market value.

The SEC says that the announcement that Barclays Capital plans to acquire the business and assets of the U.S. brokerage arm of the holding company will, if approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court, provide for the resolution of all of Lehman Brothers, Inc.’s U.S. operations.

“This is welcome news for every one of Lehman’s customers. If approved by the court, customers will be able to look forward to an immediate transition of their accounts. Even before the transaction is completed, they will benefit because the broker-dealer and 10,000 Lehman employees will be able to continue their work with clarity about their future, and with greater funding resources for the broker-dealer’s operations,” said SEC chairman, Christopher Cox.

The SEC reports that since Lehman decided to file for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 14, it has worked closely with lawyers and representatives of Lehman, Barclays, and others, as well as other U.S. and international regulators to arrange for the orderly transfer of customer accounts and address the other issues generated by the bankruptcy filing.

IE