Sloppy Lehman Bankruptcy Killed Billions in Value

Financial giants refuse to die, Steven Davidoff explains

(NEWSER) - You might remember Lehman Brothers from its starring role in kicking off 2008's financial crisis by declaring bankruptcy, and hence, you might think it is dead and buried. But you'd be wrong, writes Steven Davidoff in the New York Times : Lehman is actually still shambling around, zombie-like, and what's more, it's trying to get bigger. Courts are still trying to work through Lehman's bankruptcy, the biggest in history, and in the meantime Lehman's estate is trying to buy apartment firm Archstone-Smith. More»

'Good, clean, old-fashioned banking' is coming back in US markets

(NEWSER) - A new era has arrived on Wall Street, with the big investment firms falling, James Cramer writes in New York, and traditional banks with large deposit bases looking like the smartest option all along. “We’ll see a more chaste culture emerge from all of this, on Wall Street, and perhaps beyond,” he writes. “Caution will be the new daring. Safe will be the new sexy.” More»

Investors fear that banks, securities firms still in trouble

(NEWSER) - Lehman Brothers shocked Wall Street today by posting a $2.8 billion quarterly loss, its first in 14 years and far worse than expected, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other downmarket reports added to investor anxiety, sent stocks falling, and boosted fears that banks and securities firms remain troubled. As expected, Lehman also announced a plan to raise $6 billion in new capital. More»

Execs may land in court for disguising bad investments

(NEWSER) - Lehman Brothers tried to buy itself time by manipulating accounting gimmicks to disguise its bad investments, according to a court-ordered report on the firm's demise. The exhaustive, 2,200 page report found that execs, including former CEO Richard Fuld, could be held legally liable for the "materially misleading" attempt to disguise the state of its finances ahead of its collapse in 2008, the Guardian reports. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama visited Wall Street’s historic Federal Hall today, on the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, to make the case for the financial regulatory reforms wending their way through Congress. He spoke of the need for “strong rules of the road” for the financial system. “History cannot be allowed to repeat itself,” he said, calling the effort “the most ambitious overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression.” More»