The actions of Lehman Brothers executives “ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation,” says a 2,200-page report into the factors that led to the largest bankruptcy claim ever filed.
The just-published report by court-appointed examiner Anton Valukas, the chairman of law firm Jenner & Block, concludes that the firm painted “a misleading picture of its financial condition” as it pursued questionable tactics to try to prevent its demise. Indeed, the company kept tactics -- such as one called “Repo 105,” designed to give the company the appearance of having less debt -- from the government, rating agencies, investors and even its own board of directors.
Lehman Brothers sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2008. A year in the making, the report scrutinized over 10 million documents from the company plus 20 million pages of e-mail.
The full report is available here – but be advised that this is a large file that might slow your computer down.
