2008年9月15日，当雷曼兄弟持有第11章保护时，它的6.39亿美元破产通过资本市场派出了恐慌。在下面主席和首席执行官理查德富德那the New York–based investment bank had battled valiantly to stay afloat; until 158-year-old Lehman surrendered, there was widespread doubt that the U.S. government would let it go under. And in the dark days that followed the biggest corporate bankruptcy in history, creditors feared they’d never be repaid. Allowing Lehman to fail was ill-advised, Harvey Miller, a partner with New York–based law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, who represented the bank, told the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in September 2009. “Lehman’s bankruptcy precipitated a crisis that almost destroyed the whole financial system,” Miller said.
令人震惊的事件发生了五年后，银行的重组已经成为一个胜利，即使更多的工作仍然存在。6月，雷曼庄园宣布，联邦证券投资者保护公司所涵盖的客户会得到所有的钱。雷曼的SIPC客户资产总额超过1000亿美元。现在处于相对良好的健康状况，也将涵盖法律费用。雷曼破产不会花费美国纳税人一毛钱。
SIPC总裁斯蒂芬·哈贝克赞美雷曼受托人詹姆斯·吉克斯和詹姆斯·佩克，美国破产法院的法官被监督的纽约州南部区。“重组已经证明非常成功，而不仅仅是对于客户而是对债权人而言，”哈尔贝克说。“这表明即使在最严重的时刻，美国破产系统也有效。”
如果另一家主要金融公司遇到这样的麻烦，监管机构应该再次转向破产法院，哈贝克辩称。他更喜欢在2010年的Dodd-Frank法案中提供未经测试的案件，让联邦存款保险公司抓住被视为太大的陷入困境的机构的资产。
相比之下，法院获得了丰富的经验。过去半年还有人们看到了Jon Corzine的MF Global的破产 - 所有时间的第八最大的企业破产 - Bernard L. Madoff投资证券，CIT集团和华盛顿互斥。
在雷曼的案例中，Peck的法院迅速行事，以提供救援资金。基于伦敦的巴克莱资本提供了债务人融资融资和购买的部分公司，包括其基于美国的投资银行和资本市场运营，不断破产。很快，雷曼能够归还绝大多数，920亿美元，股权涉及索赔。但许多其他问题仍未得到解决。对冲基金管理人员特别关注，在雷曼兄弟国际（欧洲）的雷曼兄弟国际（欧洲）将成为超过160亿美元的无抵押贷款经纪资产。雷曼的回购客户以及债权人，贷方和衍生方客户也有未决的索赔。
考虑到不确定的前景,6月announcement was a milestone. “We have overcome enormous complexities and unprecedented legal challenges to meet the goal” of 100 percent customer distributions, Giddens said in a statement. (He had no further comment, citing client confidentiality.) Chairman of the corporate reorganization and bankruptcy group at the New York office of law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Giddens is also trustee for MF Global, which filed for bankruptcy in October 2011 and has promised to make its customers whole too.
In Lehman’s case the recent resolution of lawsuits involving LBIE and another subsidiary was crucial. But one big legal hurdle remains: the dispute between Lehman and Barclays Capital over who owns $8 billion in cash that was part of the bankruptcy. That case is before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Other parties have helped sell the firm’s assets to pay off debts. When Fuld stepped down as CEO in November 2008, he was replaced by chief restructuring officer Bryan Marsal, co-founder of New York–based professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal. In March 2012, Marsal resigned in favor of colleague John Suckow.
根据Alvarez＆Marsal，通过房地产和私募股权的价值上升，而且通过一些重要的资产销售，Lehman的资产负债表看起来很好。截至6月份的现金和投资总额为约239亿美元，专门为索赔和支付指定130亿美元。银行的遗产总净回收率为806亿美元，比2011年8月的589亿美元高出37％。五年，雷曼回到黑色。
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