Thursday, March 18, 2010

Fed didn't know about Lehman accounting 'gimmicks'

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the central bank didn't know about Lehman Brothers' use of controversial transactions that moved roughly $50 billion of assets off its balance sheet less than a year before it collapsed.

During congressional testimony, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Spencer Bachus asked if the Fed was aware of Lehman's /quotes/comstock/11i!lehmq (LEHMQ 0.12, -0.01, -6.25%) "accounting gimmicks."

"We did not have that information," Bernanke replied. The Fed "had only a couple people in the company to make sure" Lehman repaid money it borrowed from the central bank's primary lender credit facility, he said.

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