The acquisition by Barclays Capital of select assets from the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers is having a direct impact on the indexing community. The buyout transferred Lehman's lucrative bond index servicing business to the London-based bank, as well as its powerful family of bond indexes. The Lehman bond indexes are the leading fixed-income benchmarks in the United States.

Barclays has said that it intends to keep the index business. Questions remain, however, about the future of the Lehman brand.

In a release, Barclays referred to the brand recognition of Lehman in the world of bond indexing, suggesting the name may live on in its current form. Market participants have also pointed to Lehman's strong position and reputation in fixing bond prices as a reason for keeping the index unit and its existing brand.

If that is to be the case, Barclays' subsidiary Barclays Global Investor (BGI) will at least need exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission for its 14 ETFs pegged to Lehman indexes. Fund providers are not allowed to offer ETFs based on proprietary indexes without exemptive relief from the SEC.

A recent Citigroup report showed that there are 34 ETFs tied to Lehman indexes, with a combined total of $41 billion in assets under management. After BGI—which has the most Lehman index ETFs—the SPDRS have 10 portfolios pegged to Lehman, and The Vanguard Group has five ETF portfolios pegged to Lehman indexes.