Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (fka LEHMQ)

[Joe Stocks]

PricewaterhouseCoopers preparing $100bn claim against Lehman Brothers
Administrators to the London arm of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank that collapsed last September, are preparing a $100bn (£61.5bn) claim against its former parent company in the US.

By Jonathan Sibun
Published: 11:08PM BST 29 Aug 2009

The claim, which will be lodged next month by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lehman’s UK administrator, will mark a new stage in the international battle being fought between the creditors of the failed bank.

Lehman owed some $613bn ahead of its failure nearly a year ago, making it the largest corporate failure in history.

Liquidators in the US have been working to set up a system to repay creditors and collect money from debtors. A deadline of September 22 has been set by the US bankruptcy court for all creditors to file their claims.

The claim from PwC in London, expected to be lodged on behalf of more than 100 Lehman units, is expected to be the biggest.

Tony Lomas, one of the partners at PwC leading the case, reportedly said last night the claim was likely to be “close to $100bn”.

The London claim will add to tensions between US and British administrators.

Earlier this month, Alvarez & Marsal, the liquidator of Lehman’s assets, brokered an agreement with 13 other Lehman liquidators around the world.

PwC declined to participate in the deal, which is designed to share information on claims and assets with the intention of speeding up the liquidation process.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6112399/PricewaterhouseCoopers-preparing-100bn-claim-against-Lehman-Brothers.html