It looks like Lehman is forming a relationship with non-performing loans and the debt collector. Italian bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena said on Wednesday it would sell a 30 percent stake in a unit that manages and recoups non-performing loans for 30 million euros ($47.20 million) to Lehman Brothers’ European arm and finance firm Caf. Caf specializes valuing, buying and recouping bad loans. (A debt collector by any other name is a debt collector, regardless of the country they are in.)

Non-performing loans are interesting because in most cases the assets still exist. Some have been stripped, valdalized, or burnt to the ground with insurance/arson related crimes on the rise in the US. Exactly where the non-performing loans are, and what collaterizes them, was not disclosed in the press release.