Lehman Brothers Holdings wants to investigate whether the sale of its US brokerage unit to Barclays Capital was undervalued, resulting in a “windfall” to the British bank of possibly billions of dollars.
In a court filing Monday, lawyers for Lehman Brothers Holdings said they have become aware of “apparent material discrepancies” relating to Barclays' obligation to pay employee bonuses and cure amounts, which affected the sale price, and asset transfers related to repurchase agreements conducted during the week that the sale was negotiated.
“In the aggregate, these apparent discrepancies may have resulted in a windfall to Barclays at the expense of the estate, its creditors and other parties of interest, in an amount that could reach into the billions of dollars,” the court documents say.