The head of a team of lawyers assigned with liquidating assets of failed Yamaichi Securities Co. hinted Thursday that they may sue the brokerage's former auditor, Chuo Audit Corp.

Attorney Hideki Matsushima, a court-appointed bankruptcy administrator for Yamaichi, told a news conference that he "personally doubts whether he can ignore" the responsibility of the auditing firm after examining reports filed by Yamaichi's internal committees and outside experts.

Matsushima said, however, that the 13-member team will carefully study all the issues before deciding whether to file a suit.

While declining to set a deadline for the decision, he said it will come before the administrators meet with Yamaichi's creditors on Dec. 15.

The defunct brokerage's capital deficit, which was said to be 160.2 billion yen an May 21, could balloon further during the liquidation process, Matsushima added.

The lawyer added that the team is speeding up liquidation work as much as possible and hopes the bankruptcy procedure can be completed within three years.

Of Yamaichi's remaining assets, domestic bonds, which have a book value of 37.1 billion yen, are in good shape, the lawyers said, noting they expect to have about 36.9 billion yen in bonds recovered.

Of Yamaichi's foreign bonds totaling 37.9 billion yen, 33 billion yen is expected to be recovered, they added.

The recovery of its other assets -- including unlisted stocks, convertible bonds, golf memberships and real estate -- will be difficult, according to the administrators.