Audley Shaw, minister of finance and the public service, believes the collapse of United States-based investment bank, Lehman Brothers, could affect the Jamaican tourism industry.

Lehman Brothers, an investment bank that predates the Civil War and weathered the Great Depression, filed the largest bankruptcy in US history yesterday.

"I don't see any immediate impact but there could possibly be a direct implication on the tourism industry because a lot of persons have lost their jobs," Shaw told The Gleaner yesterday.

Consultation

He declined to comment further on the issue, noting that he is to meet with his advisers at 9 a.m today for consultation on the matter.

The upheaval in the US financial system sent shockwaves through the stock market yesterday, producing the worst day on Wall Street in seven years as investors digested the failure of one of the most venerable banks.

About US$700 billion evaporated from retirement plans, government pension funds and other investment portfolios.

AIG scurrying

While Lehman Brothers was filing for bankruptcy, AIG Investments was scurrying to find financing to stay afloat. Merrill Lynch, the world's largest and most widely recognised brokerage, was avoiding a similar fate with a $50-billion transaction to become part of The Bank of America Corp.

The deal would create a financial giant rivalling Citigroup Inc, the biggest US bank in terms of assets. Bank of America has the most deposits of any US bank.