Statement from the Office of James W. Giddens, Trustee for Liquidation of Lehman Brothers Inc. Under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) on UK Supreme Court Client Money Decision

NEW YORK, February 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The Trustee is pleased with the ruling from the UK Supreme Court.  Today's decision supports the Trustee's Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) mandate to protect customer property and make Lehman Brothers Inc.'s (LBI) customers and other creditors whole to the greatest extent possible. 

For more than two years, the Trustee has disputed the position of the UK Joint Administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) regarding property that should have been segregated for LBI customers.  In the Trustee's view, validated today, property that should have been segregated for U.S. customers of the failed broker-dealer belongs to those customers whether it was properly segregated or not.  The Financial Services Authority supported the Trustee's position during the course of the litigation. 

In addition to the ruling today, substantial progress has been made toward marshaling billions of dollars in assets for the LBI estate, and the Trustee continues to move toward formalizing the distribution process for assets under control of the estate.

The information in this statement does not apply to any other Lehman entity, including separate insolvency proceedings involving Lehman Brothers Holding, Inc. (LBHI) and Lehman Brothers International (Europe)(LBIE).

About The Liquidation Proceeding and the Trustee

On September 19, 2008, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York  entered an order granting the application of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) for issuance of a Protective Decree adjudicating that the customers of LBI was in need of protection afforded by the U.S. Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 (SIPA). The liquidation is now being administered under the auspices of The Honorable James M. Peck, (Case No. 08-01420 (JMP) (SIPA) and overseen by James W. Giddens of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, as the Trustee appointed by the Court. The Trustee fulfills public duties assigned under SIPA. More information about the Lehman Trustee is available at:  http://dm.epiq11.com/LBI/Project/default.aspx.