Barclays, the UK lender, said it was considering “quickly and seriously” whether to take on staff from Lehman Brothers’ European operations following its agreement to aquire the stricken investment bank’s broker-dealer business in the US.

John Varley, Barclays’ chief executive, said the bank had “opportunities but no obligations” towards Lehman’s non-US businesses, adding that it was possible to “think of people whose activities might be complimentary with what we are buying”.