Thursday, July 15, 2010

Lehman-JP Morgan Chase lawsuit unlikely to start before 2012

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's (LEHMQ.PK) lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase &; Co (JPM.N) of siphoning billions of dollars and hastening its record bankruptcy is unlikely to be ready for trial before April 30, 2012, under a timetable approved Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan.


The May 26 lawsuit accused JPMorgan of using its "unparalleled" knowledge of Lehman's distress, as the main "clearing" bank for Lehman transactions with other parties, to extract $8.6 billion of collateral in the four business days ahead of Lehman's Sept. 15, 2008 bankruptcy.

It said officials including JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon took the collateral after learning from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson the government would not bail Lehman out. Lehman said the bankruptcy estate and creditors deserve the collateral.

JPMorgan has denied wrongdoing.

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