Ok so Dick Fuld’s empire was already pretty fouled up before the politicians got involved but it turns out they weren’t much help.

Lehman employees leave quickly

A Guardian investigation has revealed that the shock collapse of Lehman Brothers was precipitated by a breakdown in communication between the US and the UK just as a potential bid by Barclays was being mulled over. As if UK-US relation needed any more straining just at the minute, claims and counter-claims are being chucked around about how it went down. According to the Guardian :

In London, the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority all believed that the US government would step in with a financial guarantee for the troubled Wall Street bank. The tripartite authorities insist that they always made it clear to the Americans that a possible bid from Barclays could go ahead only if sweetened by US money.

But in Washington, the former Treasury secretary Hank Paulson has blamed Lehman’s demise on Alistair Darling’s failure to let Washington know of his misgivings until it was too late. Paulson has told journalists that during a transatlantic phone call the chancellor said he was not prepared to import the American "cancer" into Britain – something Darling strongly denies.

Nice blame game but it’s really like arguing about locks on stable doors when the the horse buggered off and died in a motorway pile up a year ago. We are looking forward to the film though.

Lehman downfall triggered by mix-up between London and Washington [Guardian]