Recovery for the worldwide credit crunch and recovery in the securities market may not begin until next year, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan said on Friday.

I don't see what the real catalyst for change would be over the next several months, she told Bloomberg television. We've got to look out to 2009 for where we're going to change.

Callan acknowledged that there were more optimistic views for the remainder of the year. Yesterday Goldman Sach's CEO Lloyd Blankfein said the credit crisis was near an end, but declined to specify exactly.

Others may be more optimistic about how soon it will come to an end,'' Callan said. I do think there is reason for some optimism about the industry and the markets as a whole for 2009.

She said March had been very, very tough because of the Bear Stearns Cos. collapse, adding that that month brought a sense of fear and paralysis about the securities industry.

In the last few weeks, Lehman has been working to regain liquidity.

It has had to bail out several of its own distressed funds, shifting about $2.8 billion in risky assets onto its balance sheet.

With the Federal Reserve Bank now accepting distressed assets as collateral for short term loans, Lehman has taken those assets and has converted them to cash for use in its business.

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