Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the securities firm that filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history, owes its London landlord $4.3 billion in rent and charges, according to a claim filed by Canary Wharf Group Plc.

Under its lease agreement, Lehman must pay $2.6 billion for future rent and $1.65 billion in taxes, maintenance, insurance, services and wear and tear, according to a Sept. 17 claim filed with administrator Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions LLC. The document doesn’t specify the period covered.

Lehman, Canary Wharf Group’s largest tenant, occupied more than 1 million square feet (93,000 square meters) of office space at 20-25 Bank Street in 2003 on a 30-year lease. The London property developer’s Heron Quays units filed the biggest single claim among more than 16,000 creditors against the bank, which failed in September 2008, before the Sept. 22 court- imposed deadline.

John Garwood, company secretary of Songbird Estates Plc, which controls Canary Wharf with a 61 percent stake, declined to comment. Songbird is buying 56 million shares from Commerzbank AG for 112.5 million pounds to lift its stake to 69 percent. Songbird today said it will raise 895 million pounds in a share sale to pay off a loan from Citigroup Inc. and fund projects.

New York-based Morgan Stanley, the sixth-biggest U.S. bank by assets after converting from a securities firm, is a tenant at Canary Wharf as well as a part owner of the East London office park. Morgan Stanley has a 12 percent stake in Songbird. Other shareholders include Qatar Holding LLC, China Investment Corp., British Land Co. and New York investor Simon Glick.

Lehman creditors worldwide might file more than $1 trillion in claims and will probably have trouble validating them, said Harvey Miller, the bank’s lead bankruptcy lawyer.

‘Grossly Inflated’

“Many of the claims that will be filed or have been filed may be grossly inflated,” Miller said in an Aug. 31 e-mail. “That is generally what happens when you compel claimants to file proofs of claims” as required by the bankruptcy court.

The Bank Street building accounted for about 16 percent of Songbird’s rental income last year. Lehman’s lease covers 13 percent of the space owned by Canary Wharf, according to Songbird’s annual report.

American International Group Inc., the U.S. insurance company that had to be rescued by the U.S. government, has insured Lehman’s rental payments for up to four years after Lehman defaults. So far, the rent has been paid, according to Songbird.

Canary Wharf Group owns 16 of the 30 buildings on the 97- acre estate in east London’s Docklands. Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s second-biggest bank, leases 970,000 square feet from the group.

Nomura Move

Nomura Holdings Inc., which bought Lehman’s operations outside the U.S. last year, leases 350,000 square feet in the building for its own employees. Nomura plans to relocate 3,500 people from Canary Wharf next year to Watermark Place in the City of London, the main financial district.

The largest overall claim against Lehman, for at least $48.8 billion, was filed by Wilmington Trust Co. as indenture trustee for various Lehman senior notes. More claims may have been filed and not yet posted, and claims related to certain Lehman securities aren’t due until Nov. 2, according to court papers.

To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Woodifield in Edinburgh at pwoodifield@bloomberg.net. Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 24, 2009 07:07 EDT