Japan's financial watchdog on Monday ordered a local unit of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to take "full measures" to protect investors and assets following its bankruptcy.
The Financial Services Agency also ordered Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. to retain certain assets within Japan.
Lehman should "take full measures for investor protection, with considering fair treatment among investors," the agency said in a statement.
The Japanese watchdog also ordered Lehman not to damage the benefits of creditors and investors through the outflow of money in the wake of its bankruptcy.
The statement did not say the government would suspend Lehman's operations in Japan. Neither the agency nor the Japanese unit of Lehman could be reached for comment Monday, a public holiday, in Japan. Japan's financial markets were closed Monday and would reopen on Tuesday.
Lehman opened its first office in Tokyo in 1973, and its operations in Tokyo have become one of its key global businesses after New York and London, according to its Web site.
Citing data from the Japanese financial watchdog, Kyodo News agency said Lehman's Japanese unit manages about 1.2 trillion yen ($11.4 billion) worth of assets from investors.
The 158-year-old Lehman was crippled by a staggering $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings and unable to find an investment partner to throw it a lifeline. The fourth-largest U.S. investment bank announced Monday it would file for bankruptcy.
Lehman's failure comes amid a meltdown in the U.S. financial industry, with Bank of America snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock deal.
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