Lehman Brothers last night secured roles advising Golden West Financial, the California savings bank, and Thermo Electron, the analytical instrument manufacturer, on $36bn (€28bn) of deals, moving the bank into second in the US mergers and acquisitions league tables.

The two deals potentially move Lehman from third to second in the US M&A league tables, overtaking Citigroup, according to Dealogic, the investment banking research provider. In the global rankings the bank potentially moves up from seventh to fifth place if the deals succeed.