Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld’s effort to woo buyers for the investment bank may be hindered as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson opposes providing the funding that enabled Bear Stearns Cos. to sell itself and avoid bankruptcy.

Bank of America Corp. leads the list of potential buyers of Lehman, a person familiar with the bidding said. No structure for a deal has been agreed upon, and the likelihood of completing a transaction remained uncertain, said the person, declining to be identified.

Paulson doesn’t want to put up money to help fund any Lehman acquisition, a person familiar with his thinking said Friday. Unlike when the Federal Reserve committed $29 billion to help JPMorgan Chase & Co. take over Bear Stearns, Lehman now has access to a lending facility for brokers that would permit an orderly process for unwinding the firm, the person said.

“Lehman’s sale is likely to take a different form because there was serious political fallout from the JPMorgan-Bear deal,” said Sean Egan, president of Egan-Jones Ratings Co. in Haverford, Penn. “It could be a consortium that buys Lehman, with the Fed’s help.”

Fuld, who built Lehman into the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage securities during his four decades at the investment bank, was pushed toward a forced sale after talks about a cash infusion from Korea Development Bank ended, sparking a drop of more than 75 percent in the firm’s market value this week.

Bank of America is considering a joint bid for the company with J.C. Flowers & Co. and China Investment Corp., the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people.

Bankers from other firms were reviewing Lehman’s books Thursday, according to people with knowledge of the situation, and a deal may be announced before Asian markets open Monday, one of the people said. The New York-based investment bank announced the biggest loss in its 158-year history on Sept. 10, as devalued real estate assets led to $5.6 billion of writedowns in the third quarter.

Lehman fell 13 percent Friday, closing at $36.50 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Bank of America is the most likely buyer for Lehman, Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. analyst Richard Bove said in a note to clients today. The Charlotte-based bank would gain “one of the best” fixed-income desks in the U.S. and boost its research and capital markets businesses, Bove said.

Bank of America may team up with Barclays Plc and private equity firms to make an offer for Lehman, analysts at MF Global Securities Ltd. said. Barclays would acquire Lehman’s asset management unit to gain actively managed mutual funds and hedge funds, Mamoun Tazi, a London-based analyst at MF Global, said in a telephone interview Friday.

Private equity firms continued to weigh making bids for Lehman’s asset management business, people familiar with the talks said Thursday.

KKR & Co., Bain Capital LLC, Hellman & Friedman LLC and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. may make bids valuing the unit at about $5 billion, the people said. Officials at the firms declined to comment.

“We’re entering the end-game,” said Rupert Della-Porta, the London-based chief operating officer of research firm Atlantic Equities.

Some Lehman employees have been reaching out to recruiting firms in recent days, executives at companies including Heidrick & Struggles Inc. said. Philippe Cerf, a 15-year Lehman veteran who advises clients in the technology and aerospace industries, is close to joining Credit Suisse Group AG, three people with knowledge of his move said.