Lehman Brothers UK

About Lehman Brothers UK

Lehman Brothers International Europe, the European arm of Lehman Brothers, entered administration on September 15, 2008. The UK entity held approximately 22 billion in client assets. Administrator PwC faced enormous complexity in separating LBIE assets from the parent company. The administration took 11 years to complete. LBIE creditors eventually received 100 pence on the pound plus interest, an exceptional outcome for a bankruptcy. The success was partly due to the strong UK insolvency framework and the value of assets recovered over time. The LBIE case demonstrated that cross border bankruptcies of global financial institutions could take over a decade to resolve. The case set precedents for the treatment of client assets in insolvency and influenced reforms to European bank resolution rules.