After Bear Stearns, Is Lehman Next?

March 10, 2008— -- SINGAPORE (AP) - Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. plunged in premarket trading Monday after a news report that Southeast Asia's largest bank instructed traders in an e-mail not to do business with the bank.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd. took back those instructions, but after the fall of the once venerable Wall Street bank Bear Stearns on Sunday, skittish investors sold off quickly and Lehman shares fell 29 percent, or $11.45, to $27.81.

DBS sent an e-mail to several traders instructing them not to conduct any new dealings with Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns Cos., two people familiar with the situation said, according to Dow Jones.

"There was an email sent out after the first advising traders to review new transactions (with Lehman Brothers) case by case," Dow Jones Newswires reported.

DBS wouldn't immediately confirm the existence of the e-mails.

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"There are still transactions with Lehman that went through today," a top DBS spokesman told The Associated Press. "Given the current market conditions, we are merely exercising more vigilance and reviewing all new transactions on a case-by-case basis."

Lehman Brothers told Dow Jones there were foreign exchange trades with DBS Monday, including a purchase of 20 million New Zealand dollars.

"We are doing business with DBS," Matthew Russell, head of corporate communications for Lehman Brothers in Asia Pacific told Dow Jones Newswires. "They continue to deal with us. They have been transacting with us."