Lehman Brothers is most likely to be the next investment bank to be taken over, according a Financial News Online poll ahead of today's quarterly results from the Wall Street bank, despite analysis that the US bank actually has the highest liquidity reserves of its US peers.

The US bank was considered a more likely takeover target than European rival UBS, which slumped to a full-year loss last year after massive writedowns and is rumoured to be planning thousands of job cuts in a bid to boost efficiency. Lehman captured 47% of the vote in an online poll of 1,300 people. UBS garnered more than a third of the votes cast.