Samsung Sec interested in Lehman Asia ops-source

SEOUL (Reuters) - Officials of South Korean brokerage Samsung Securities (016360.KS) were in Hong Kong over the weekend to discuss a possible investment in Lehman Brothers' Asian operations, a source close to the matter said on Monday.

"The high-level officials left for Hong Kong over the weekend for an investment in Lehman," said the source, asking not to be named.

Samsung Securities was one of a handful of brokerages looking into Lehman, the source said, after Barclays (BARC.L) agreed to buy Lehman's North American investment banking and capital markets businesses in a $1.75 billion (955 million pounds) deal last week.

Over the weekend, news reports said that Japan's Nomura Holdings (8604.T) was interested in buying the European operations of Lehman, while Barclays was to bid for parts of the business.

U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ.PK) last week filed for bankruptcy protection after collapsing from exposure to risky securities backed by subprime mortgages.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Keiron Henderson)