Britain's Barclays bank is in talks to buy up some parts of the newly collapsed Lehman Brothers empire, the bank reported on Tuesday.

Barclays withdrew from efforts to work out a wider rescue deal for Lehman Brothers last weekend.

It said it was now discussing "the possible acquisition of certain Lehman Brothers assets on terms that would be attractive to Barclays shareholders."

The talks are believed to be focusing on parts of Lehman's US operations, such as core investment banking infrastructure and staff, but not on the mortgage-related assets that fuelled the US bank's downfall.