Lehman's Not Thanking JPMorgan, Citi
NEW YORK (
) --
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
helped cause the failure of
Lehman Brothers
by demanding more collateral and changing guarantee agreements, says a
Bloomberg
reading of a court-ordered report on the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
"The demands for collateral by Lehman's lenders had direct impact on Lehman's liquidity," said Anton Valukas, the bankruptcy examiner, in the document filed Thursday. "Lehman's available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed."
Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, said in an e-mailed statement to
Bloomberg
that the bank is reviewing the report, and that a preliminary analysis shows the examiner "has not identified any wrongdoing on Citi's part."
The report has pulled up former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld and ex-Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan, among others, for certifying misleading statements about the bank's finances.
Valukas said Fuld was "at least grossly negligent in causing Lehman to file misleading periodic reports" while its risks were rising because of long-term assets financed with short-term debt.
Disputing the examiner's allegation, Fuld's lawyer, Patricia Hynes, told
Bloomberg
, "Mr. Fuld did not know what those transactions were -- he didn't structure or negotiate them, nor was he aware of their accounting treatment."
Valukas also made a mention of
Barclays
(BCS) - Get Report
purchase of Lehman's North American brokerage that a "limited amount of assets" belonging to Lehman were "improperly transferred to Barclays." He added that the value of the assets may not be "material."
Spokespeople for Barclays and JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment for Bloomberg.
