Selskapet som gjennomgår Lehman Brothers sier måten selskapet ble slått konkurs på gjorde at verdier for opp mot $ 75 milliarder forsvant som kunne vært reddet. Alvarez & Marsal sier det ble gjort utilgivelige feil av ledelsen.

Mr Marsal said: «This [bankruptcy]filing, which was pretty much dictated to the board of directors at Lehman that weekend, occurred with no planning. Had rules of crisis management been followed, much of the value that was lost by the unsecured creditors would have been prevented.

«While I have no position on whether or not the Federal Government should have provided further assistance, once the decision was made not to provide it, an orderly wind-down plan should have been pursued.»

Lehman’s unsecured creditors are owed an estimated $200 billion but are expected to recover only $20 billion, ten cents on the dollar, once the restructuring is complete. A&M found that most of the loss of value had occurred because the bankruptcy filing caused the bank to default on trading contracts with counterparties, cancelling about 900,000 derivatives contracts. These included contracts in which Lehman was owed money. In an orderly unwinding, at least $50 billion could have been saved, A&M found.

Sjokknyheten om konursen 15. september førte til et voldsomt fall i Lehmans verdier, slik at selskapets eiendeler gikk for en brøkdel av verdien. Eksempelvis ble investeringsbank-delen solgt for $ 500 millioner dollar, selv om den hadde generert $ 4 milliarder i overskudd i året.

Lehman Brothers chiefs’ lack of plan cost creditors $75bn