The view from Lehman Brothers' Canary Wharf office in London Friday afternoon will have done little to calm the concerns of its nervous employees inside. The Thomson Reuters ticker tape opposite their windows read: "Lehman races to find rescuer."

Outside, the attitude of staff yesterday and today was very much one of "wait and see". Staff could be heard outside debating over who might make the best buyer for Lehman, whether the bank would exist next week and where, if they were to be made redundant, they could find a job.