Household HSBC Watch

HSBC Holdings and an unidentified Chinese bank are among potential buyers of Lehman Brothers, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a financial industry source. State-owned KDB confirmed on Tuesday it was in talks with Lehman. Lehman prefers KDB over other contenders as KDB plans to keep its current management after an acquisition. If HSBC intends to get serious about this venture something must be done to satisfy all parties involved, including regulators.

The game plan was simple: Loan to anybody, convince others to do the same, lose a few billion dollars along the way, but position the bank to snap up assets that are better than Household International. Simple, down and dirty, and very effective. The risk is high, however, as others around the world who lost billions of dollars should never be allowed to see the game plan.

This is more like Bill Belichick and the the New England Patriots illegally filming the signals of New York Jets coaches in the season opener. “This episode represents a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid longstanding rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing field,” commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to the Patriots. HSBC’s interest in Lehman Brothes is exactly like Belichick and the Patriots, come to think of it.