On Sept. 15, Lehman Bros. Holdings petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to allow the company to work out a plan under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to repay $613 billion in debt (excerpts below and on the following 10 pages; full petition here). Lehman, until this week one of America’s most admired businesses, owes “over 100,000” unsecured creditors (below). The financial services company’s “30 largest unsecured claims” (Pages 3-10) include $156 billion in investment bonds (Pages 3-4); nearly $17 billion in loans from Japanese banks; unpaid notes from lenders in Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, and Norway; and loans from a handful of American institutions.
Under supervision of the court, the investment bank has begun to sell off assets that were worth $639 billion as recently as May 31 (Page 11). They are worth far less now.
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