Bear Stearns protects client list

Bear Stearns is one of the best-known US Wall Street firms

Bear Stearns is seeking a court injunction to prevent five former workers from using the company's client list in their new jobs at other banks.

The move comes as the ailing investment bank is in the process of being rescued in a takeover by rival JP Morgan Chase.

Bear Stearns' court move shows how the bank may struggle to hold onto clients following its recent high profile woes.

Some job cuts among Bear Stearns' 15,000 staff are expected when JP Morgan Chase completes its takeover.

Bear Stearns said the five former employees wanted to take the firm's client list with them to their new jobs at rivals UBS and Morgan Stanley.

'Cash flow problems'

America's most high profile victim of the continuing credit crunch, Bear Stearns was forced to seek emergency funding from JP Morgan Chase and the Federal Reserve of New York on Friday, 14 March.

The firm had been at the centre of the US bad mortgage debt crisis which last summer sparked the global credit shortage, and there had been growing speculation that it was struggling to fund its daily business.

Three days later JP Morgan Chase turned its rescue of Bear Stearns into a takeover bid, initially offering just $2 (£1) a share.

At the start of this week, JP Morgan Chase increased its offer to $10 a share, following criticism that its initial bid was too low.