The report filed by the examiners of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy will help the US Securities and Exchange commission (SEC) in its probe into big financial companies' role in meltdown of the Wall Street, Chairman of the SEC Mary Schapiro said on Wednesday at a congressional hearing.

Answering to a question that asked what was the regulator doing to investigate Lehman Brothers and Ernst & Young, its auditor; Schapiro said, "We are looking at the conduct of a number of firms."

She also said that the regulator's methods to oversee investment banks had many loopholes from the very beginning as it was more of voluntary regulation.

Lehman Brothers and Ernst & Young were specifically under discussion as a recent report suggested that the financial giant resorted to some accounting gimmicks before it collapsed in 2008. Schapiro was not on her current position then.

The SEC was asked to keep an eye on the large financial firm's exposure to the EU countries, especially the troubled lot including Greece and Portugal. As per Schapiro, SEC now has a dedicated team to follow financial statements of the US financial behemoths.