Lehman Doctored Financial Statements? JPM, Citi Aided Collapse?

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., talks with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker about a report on the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which concluded the company used off-balance-sheet transactions to understate its leverage in late 2007 and 2008, deceiving shareholders about its ability to withstand losses. Then-Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld was at least grossly negligent for letting Lehman file financial reports in which a key gauge of strength was reverse-engineered through transactions known as Repo 105s, bankruptcy examiner Anton Valukas said in the report. Hintz is a former Lehman chief financial officer.

Karl Denninger http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2072-What-The-Lehman-Report-Prove...

Also from Bloomberg:
JPMorgan, Citigroup Helped Cause Lehman Collapse, Report Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ab1XUybpK4Vg

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. helped cause the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. by demanding more collateral and changing guarantee agreements, according to a court-ordered report on the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The demands for collateral by Lehmans lenders had direct impact on Lehmans liquidity, said Anton Valukas, the bankruptcy examiner, in a 2,200-page document filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. Lehmans available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed.

Former Lehman Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld, ex- Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan, former Executive Vice President Ian Lowitt and former Managing Director Christopher OMeara certified misleading statements about the banks finances, according to the report. Fuld, 63, was at least grossly negligent, Valukas said. New York-based Lehman collapsed in September 2008 with $639 billion in assets.

In addition to his conclusions regarding New York-based Citigroup and JPMorgan, Valukas said of London-based Barclays Plcs purchase of Lehmans 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.
(Story continues at url above.)

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[lnfiniteKnowledge]

He was trying to hard not to fuck up.

[fal2grace]

@lnfiniteKnowledge :) funny

[mbrowshan]

All Lehman execs need to be put in jail....but they just get slapped on the wrist....white collar crime apparently pays off big time....

[fal2grace]

heavy sigh...so far...hopefully bankers will be held responsible. thanks.

[iknownothingnow]

Very interesting video. Ill have to read more about Mr. Hintz.

I was reminded of venial sins of Enron. Seems to me if you are paid huge $, have a large staff of corporate attorneys, you make a lot of venial sins. Ah shucks, dah, the government educated populace will never understand this kind of criminality.

If you steal a watch you go to jail. If you steal a TRILLION DOLLARS you get rewarded with more money!

Ah, um, jee wiz, Di gues dey R doin gods wurk. Der right. I stupid.

[fal2grace]

seems very much like enron.

[cazyblood3]

The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.

[GuildF40]

a man with a suit case can steal a lot more money than a man with a gun !

[iknownothingnow]

@fal2grace

Worse. I was quoting Lloyd Blankfein: chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. November 9, 2009 speech.

[trinomialtree]

yes, we need some dilbert like dick fuld to take the hit for us. just put dick behind bars in a country club and for the rest of us, it will be business as usual.

[fal2grace]

you're welcome. thanks for watching.

[fal2grace]

It's frustrating.

[NowisEvollovetion]

And WHO is being prosecuted for these blatantly illegal activities?

No-one.

Where is the JUSTICE?