Lehman trustee secures approval of Barclays asset transfer settlement

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Dec. 10 - Lehman Brothers Inc. liquidation trustee James W. Giddens said the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved a settlement agreement with Barclays that finalizes the transfer of Private Investment Management assets to former Lehman Brothers customers.

According to a company news release, the settlement approval brings the account transfer phase of a Lehman Securities Investor Protection Act lawsuit to a successful conclusion.

Since the demise of Lehman in September 2008, the trustee said he has overseen the successful transfer of 110,000 accounts containing more than $92 billion in customer assets to Barclays, Neuberger Berman and other SIPC member broker-dealers.

Overall, Giddens said he is administering more than $110 billion in the liquidation of Lehman Brothers.

The trustee's transfers of accounts allowed customers to continue trading within days of Lehman's bankruptcy filing, according to the release, maintaining liquidity and investor confidence through a tumultuous time in the nation's markets.

Lehman said the PIM conversion of accounts was the only remaining aspect of the account transfers not yet fully complete.

Giddens said this settlement does not affect his separate, pending claims against Barclays under a Rule 60(b) motion and adversary proceedings, which ask the court to rule that billions of dollars of disputed assets that Barclays is claiming are actually still the property of the Lehman Brothers estate.

New York-based Lehman Brothers Holdings was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States. The company filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. Its Chapter 11 case number is 08-13555.

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