Lehman Bros files for bankruptcy

Police have cordoned off the bank's headquarters in New York

Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest US investment bank, has filed for bankruptcy protection, dealing a blow to the fragile global financial system. The news led to sharp falls in share prices around the world, and officials took measures to reassure markets.

Lehman had incurred losses of billions of dollars in the US mortgage market. Merrill Lynch, also stung by the credit crunch, has agreed to be taken over by Bank of America, the latest twist in a dramatic turn of events on Wall Street. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the US was "working through a difficult period in our financial markets right now as we work off some of the past excesses".

Paulson upbeat despite turmoil

But he added: "The American people can remain confident in the soundness and resilience of our financial system." However he warned that uncertainty remained and it was likely that there would be further "rough spots" ahead before the market was corrected. Turmoil would continue in financial markets until the housing correction was completed, he added.

Mr Paulson said he was committed to working with regulators in the US and abroad, as well as policymakers in Congress to take the necessary steps "to maintain the stability and orderliness of our financial markets".

But he gave no details of what such steps might mean. Earlier in the day President George W Bush said: "In the long term I am confident that our financial markets are flexible and resilient and can deal with these adjustments."

警方已封锁了该银行设在纽约的总部

雷曼兄弟公司，是美国第四大投资银行，已申请破产保护，处理打击脆弱的全球金融体系。新闻导致在世界各地股票价格急剧下降，官方采取措施，以安抚市场。

李曼兄弟证券已招致损失数十亿美元的在美国的按揭市场。美林证券公司，丁也由信贷紧缩，已同意被美国银行接管，这是华尔街最新的一个戏剧性的事件。美国财政部部长亨利保尔森说，美国是“正在努力经过一个金融市场的困难时期，现在我们的工作，部分抵消了过去的过度” 。

保尔森表示对风暴表示乐观
但他补充： “美国人民可以对我们稳健和弹性的金融体系保持信心” 。不过他警告说，不确定性依然存在，在市场恢复之前，很可能会有进一步“难关”。风暴将继续在金融市场，直到校正完成后，他补充说。

保尔森先生说，他致力于与监管机构在美国和国外，以及决策者在国会采取必要的步骤“ ，以维持我们的金融市场稳定和秩序” 。

但他没有详细说明是什么这些步骤可能的意思。当天早些时候，美国总统布什说： “在长期的，我有信心我们的金融市场是灵活的和有弹性，并能处理这些调整” 。