Lehman has officially filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the second major Wall Street firm to disintegrate under the weight of the deepening credit crunch.
In the bankruptcy filed, Lehman listed Citigroup among its biggest unsecured creditors, with about $138 billion in bonds as of July 2. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. was listed as holding about $17 billion in debt. As of May 31, Lehman had assets of $639 billion and debt of $613 billion.
- Based on the Largest Unsecured Claims (Page 7), Lehman has surpassed WorldCom as the largest U.S. bankruptcy ever.
- Lehman had about $639 billion in assets, while WorldCom had about $107 billion when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.
The following document is the filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
Also, the affidavit of Ian T. Lowitt explaining Lehman’s trouble.
Affidavit Explaining Lehmans’ troubled
Filing for Chapter 11 protection allows Lehman to restructure while creditor claims are held at bay. The company most likely chose to file under Chapter 11, rather than a Chapter 7 liquidation, so it could retain more control over the selling off of assets
Rafael Nicolas Fermin Cota
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!”
Lord Polonius, Hamlet Act I, Scene 8