Barclays accuses Lehman of keeping back $3bn assets after 2008 collapse
THE legal wrangle between Barclays and Lehman Brothers Holdings is set to intensify this week when the British bank tells a judge Lehman is withholding $3bn (£2bn) in assets.
Barclays, which bought Lehman’s core operations after it imploded in September 2008, says it is entitled to around $750m left in clearance boxes and $750m in securities held in a customer security account. The bank is claiming a further $2.5bn remaining in margin collateral on Lehman’s exchange traded derivatives.
In contrast, Lehman is demanding the return of $11bn profits it says Barclays has booked on the purchase of its brokerage business, which has blossomed since it was saved from insolvency 18 months ago.
On Friday a US bankruptcy judge will decide whether the case should progress to a non-jury trial in New York set for late April.
Jonathan Shaw of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, which is representing Barclays, told City A.M.: “To allow the Lehman Estate now to recut a deal they wanted when they needed it, simply because it has turned out well, is unfair and legally barred.”