Lehman settles £23.5bn dispute

Published on 06/10/2012 00:00

The European division of Lehman Brothers and its US brokerage unit have taken a major step towards helping creditors and customers of the former investment bank recover money by settling a dispute over $38 billion (£23.5bn) in asset claims.

James Giddens, the trustee liquidating Lehman’s brokerage arm, said the deal was a “critical milestone” that would let customers recover their property much sooner than if Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) litigated claims over thousands of trades. Tony Lomas, joint administrator of LBIE, said he can focus on distributing more than $7bn in assets.

Lehman collapsed with debts of more than $600bn in 2008 and emerged from bankruptcy protection in March. Its creditors will get back around $65bn.