Former Lehman Officials Win Dismissal of Some Securities-Fraud Claims
Former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) officials won the dismissal of some claims in a securities-fraud suit brought by buyers of more than $31 billion of the defunct investment firm’s securities.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York today granted parts of a motion to throw out claims in the class-action. It names as defendants five former top Lehman officers, nine former directors, Lehman’s outside auditor Ernst & Young LLP and 51 underwriters of Lehman securities.
The plaintiffs -- a group of pension funds, companies and individuals -- claimed Lehman’s financial statements contained misstatements and omissions about the firm’s use of “Repo 105” transactions, risk-management policies, liquidity risk, credit risk and the value of real estate held by Lehman.
Lehman, once the world’s fourth-biggest investment bank, filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2008 with assets of $639 billion.
Kaplan also dismissed part of the investors’ claims against Ernst & Young, while allowing the case to go forward against the accounting firm.
The case is In re Lehman Brothers Securities and ERISA Litigation, 09-MD-2017, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in Manhattan federal court at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page