korean bank

The future of one of Wall Street's top investment banks is in doubt. Lehman Brothers had been in talks with a Korean bank about purchasing a stake in Lehman, which desperately needs the funds.

But the talks ended with no deal, and on Wednesday, Lehman announced a quarterly loss of $4 billion.

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A government bank in Korea confirmed Tuesday that it's in talks with Lehman Brothers about the possibility of buying a stake in the Wall Street securities firm.

Lehman has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis and is under pressure to boost its finances. Officials at the Korea Development Bank won't say how much they might invest.

One media report said it could be as much as $6 billion.

Lehman Brothers' latest march toward the once-unthinkable price of $10 a share was interrupted when a Korean bank expressed interest Friday in the struggling brokerage firm.

The question now is whether CEO Dick Fuld is willing to reciprocate.

A regulatory hold-up means HSBC's controlling purchase of a South Korean bank must be delayed.