Lehman Brothers lobbied the US Federal Reserve this summer to be given access to much-needed liquidity, but was unable to convince the regulators, just two months before the Fed endorsed similar proposals from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the FT has learnt. Lehman held talks with regulators over a plan to convert to a traditional bank holding company in July. At the same time it asked the Fed to loosen the rules by which it extends credit in order to include more types of collateral, said people familiar with the discussions – a request the Fed rejected. Lehman also held talks that month with Bank of America over a potential takeover, and considered selling itself to other banks including Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Nomura before it eventually filed for bankruptcy. Dick Fuld, Lehman’s former chief executive, had quickly embraced the idea of becoming a bank holding company this summer, said people involved in the efforts.
