...Case Study : Lehman Brother’s Demise of Lehman Brothers Lehman Brother’s demise was the event that gripped the US financial system into shock. It was the fourth largest investment firm in the US as of 2007 with 25,000 employees worldwide. The Firm had an exponential growth and recognized profits from 2005 to 2006 and in 2007 reported a net income of $4.2 billion dollars on revenues of 19.3 billion. The stock price of the company reached all-time high when it hit $86.18 per share. Lehman increased 56% in its revenues only from the subprime mortgage business alone. While the company kept reaping benefits, the real estate market in the US started to show signs of pending bubble burst. In March 2007 stock market experienced biggest drop in 5 years and mortgage defaults rose up to the highest percentage in almost a decade. Investors were confident with their money as they were satisfied with Lehman’s financial statements and their past resilience with depressions. According to NyTimes “Lehman never publicly disclosed its use of Repo 105 transactions, its accounting treatment for these transactions, the considerable escalation of its total Repo 105 usage in late 2007 and into 2008, or the material impact these transactions had on the firm’s publicly reported net leverage ratio.” Later when Lehman was exposed of their use of accounting gimmicks to mislead the investors. This led the investors to lose confidence in Lehman brothers. Investors started dumping their stocks while other...
Words: 1457 - Pages: 6
...Henry Lehman created a small general store selling groceries and dry goods to local farmers in 1844. Shortly after, Henry’s two brothers, Emmanuel and Mayer, joined the business. The three brothers established the business known as Lehman Brothers in 1850’s. The business transitioned from selling merchandise to commodities brokers, where they bought and sold cotton. Lehman Brothers grew rapidly due to the capitalization of high cotton prices. A partnership was formed with a cotton merchant that allowed Lehman Brothers to pursue other venues. Through strategic partnership the business survived the difficult times it experienced during the Civil War. Lehman Brothers opened a new office in New York which became the main campus for its operations. This office furthered their trading business and introduced them to the financial industry. In later years, Lehman became involved in the New York stock exchange where the underwriting business began. The firm grew rapidly and was very successful for years. After many years of hard work and success the company collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in 2008. Lehman had been unhealthy for a while and covered it up by secretly shuffling debt around to make its books look in order and deceive the real situation. Lehman used an aggressive accounting method to hide their losses and made it difficult for investors, executives and/or auditors to detect their actual financial status. This accounting method is known as REPO 105, which...
Words: 496 - Pages: 2
...Introduction History of Lehman Brothers Subprime Crisis Explained Vicious circle & the fall of Lehman Brothers Organizational Culture at Lehman Brothers Future Conclusion Introduction Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, aka the fourth-largest investment financial institution in the US (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch), was a 158 years old bank that had to declare its bankruptcy in September 2008. Led by its CEO, Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers was a glorious and respected investment bank for which some of the most experienced and intelligent financial analysts/investors were working. How come then, than in a less than one week, the whole structure imploded and led to one historical bankruptcy and with the same occasion, became the trigger of the 2nd most dramatic worldwide financial crisis? This essay has been written, in what seemed to me, the most logical way to approach this very interesting and complex subject. A quick peak to Lehman Brothers’ history will help the reader to understand how, starting from very humble origins, Lehman Brothers became one of the top investment financial institutions in the US before its collapse. The financial crisis of 2008, also called the subprime crisis was the biggest reason of LB’s downfall. Having done some researches, the reader will be explained, in a very intuitive but complete manner, how this crisis began and how it evolved until it affected the whole world. One can already agree that LB’s got caught...
Words: 2584 - Pages: 11
...Profile of Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers, which shook the US financial system with a statement declaring itself bankrupt Monday, is the fourth-biggest New York investment bank with roots going back to 1850. By AFP September 15, 2008 Be the first to post a comment NEW YORK - Lehman Brothers, which shook the US financial system with a statement declaring itself bankrupt Monday, is the fourth-biggest New York investment bank with roots going back to 1850. The bank, one of the most prestigious names in finance, employs about 27,000 people after staff cuts in response to asset writedowns totalling 13.8 billion dollars because of the subprime home-loan crisis. OPERATIONS: Lehman is one of the banks at the heart of the US, and global, financial system, being a primary dealer in US Treasury securities - US debt instruments. It has operations in investment banking and asset management, mainly through its Neuberger Berman unit. FINANCES: Lehman posted a loss of 3.9 billion dollars in its third fiscal quarter to the end of August, following a 2.8 billion-dollar loss in the second quarter. The firm has written off 13.8 billion dollars linked to the US subprime mortgage crisis, and has raised 10 billion dollars through share offerings this year. SHARE PRICES/VALUE: Lehman shares have slid from a high point of 66 dollars in February to less than 10 dollars. The 85-percent drop places its market capitalization at about 5.5 billion dollars, close to the level of...
Words: 418 - Pages: 2
...Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The control break downs of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. included the massive amount of money borrowed to fund its investments. A considerable portion of this investment was in real estate, which made the investment defenseless against a fall in the market. Lehman also used one of its small companies to reallocate investments off its books. The firm was active in the market for Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS). The process involved buying several residential mortgages, combining them and selling them as securities. RMBS buyers actually purchased claims on the cash flow generated by the securities. Lehman produced a great amount of these securities, making the demand high for mortgage originators. This led mortgage originators to extend credit to people who were not credit worthy, or did not have enough income causing these people to have upside down mortgages on their homes when housing prices plummeted in 2006. In 2000, the stock market started to decline and the Federal Reserve significantly reduced interest rates. These lower interest rates caused inexpensive mortgage payments, which lead to a large demand for homes. Homeowners took advantage of the low interest rates and refinanced their mortgages. In 2008, Lehman announced that they would file for bankruptcy after a huge loss in the market, a loss of investors and their inability to find an adequate buyer. Soon after, their collapse set the market into panic mode...
Words: 673 - Pages: 3
...The Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Abstract Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and very nearly caused a collapse of the world’s financial system on September 15 2008. This report looks at the reason behind Lehman bankruptcy and how this create financial panic during the fall in the year 2008. Introduction The Lehman brothers had played an important part in the growth of American industry and technology as well as the establishment of the modern corporation for more than 150 years Executive Summary The largest bankruptcy of Lehman brothers ever filled which losses to investors and billions of dollars. Lehman Brothers profoundly invested in pension plans such as the New York State Teacher Retirement Plan and the California Public retirement System, traded at a high over $ 65 per share. Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy, after a year they have had their biggest profit. U.S investment Bank Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 15th September 2008.Lehman’s Brothers bankruptcy was considered the largest in history with $639 billion in assets and $ 619 billion in debt. At the time of its collapse, Lehman was the fourth largest U.S investment bank with worldwide employees. One of the root causes of the Lehman’s collapse is U.S subprime mortgages and real state market. History of the Lehman Brothers Henry, Emanuel and Mayer Lehman Migrated from Germany to Montgomery, Alabama in the mid-1800s.They started their business from a small grocery shop to the local cotton...
Words: 294 - Pages: 2
...Lessons from Lehman Brothers: Will We Ever Learn? MGT 521 September 9, 2013 Introduction Lehman Brothers financial services filed bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, in the New York Southern District U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Resulting in an immediate 500 point drop in the Dow Jones (Did Ernst & Young Really Assist Financial Fraud? 2011). This day became known as ‘‘Dark Monday’’ (Donaldson, 2012). This was to date, the largest bankruptcy filing in history unleashing a “crisis of confidence that threw financial markets worldwide into turmoil, sparking the worst crisis since the Great Depression.” However this financial icon’s fall is no surprise. The bankruptcy examiner released reports saying that the firm’s executives and auditor, “lambasted” for what they did to cause the collapse of the firm (Robbins & Coulter, 2010). The Lehman Brother culture was one of risk and reward. At the company, “Excessive risk taking by employees was openly lauded and rewarded handsomely. Employees knew they could give risky ideas and they would get rewards for them. Individuals making questionable deals were hailed and treated as ‘conquering heroes’.” (Robbins & Coulter, 2010, pp. 147-148). If anyone would question decisions made or speak out in disagreement, executives would not listen. In addition, the executives would overrule and go with the least desirable decision. Most companies would be wary of taking so many risks and only give reward after that...
Words: 1005 - Pages: 5
...------------------------------------------------- Lehman Brothers Collapse ------------------------------------------------- Lehman Brothers Collapse Executive Summary The following report discusses and analyzes the events leading up to the failure of Lehman Brothers as well as outcomes and repercussions of one of the largest bankruptcy cases to date. The first part of this paper describes the primary factors that contributed to the ultimate demise of Lehman Brothers. The main factors that lead to the crisis include, but are not limited to; the misrepresentation of financial statements, a complete lack of internal control, accounting as well as management collusion, managerial fraud, increased moral hazard, and the overpayment of executives within the firm. Misrepresentation of the financial statements and the misuse of accounting practices was the main reason for the Collapse of Lehman Brothers. It was said that upper management violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act through the use of questionable and unethical accounting practices, more specifically through the use of Repo 105 transactions. The second part of this paper addresses the underlying causes and issues relative to the study of financial ethics. This paper also addresses those who were involved as well as affected by the events that took place in the Lehman Brothers scandal. After evaluating the reasons for Lehman Brothers failure, the report discusses possible courses of action to take in order...
Words: 3830 - Pages: 16
...Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Causes CAUSES Malfeasance A March 2010 report by the court-appointed examiner indicated that Lehman executives regularly used cosmetic accounting gimmicks at the end of each quarter to make its finances appear less shaky than they really were. This practice was a type of repurchase agreement that temporarily removed securities from the company's balance sheet. However, unlike typical repurchase agreements, these deals were described by Lehman as the outright sale of securities and created "a materially misleading picture of the firm’s financial condition in late 2007 and 2008 Subprime mortgage crisis In August 2007, the firm closed its subprime lender, BNC Mortgage, eliminating 1,200 positions in 23 locations, and took an after-tax charge of $25 million and a $27 million reduction in goodwill. Lehman said that poor market conditions in the mortgage space "necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the subprime space". In 2008, Lehman faced an unprecedented loss to the continuing subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman's loss was a result of having held on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches when securitizing the underlying mortgages; whether Lehman did this because it was simply unable to sell the lower-rated bonds, or made a conscious decision to hold them, is unclear. In any event, huge losses accrued in lower-rated mortgage-backed securities throughout 2008. Short-selling allegations...
Words: 405 - Pages: 2
...Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. Thursday, October 24, 1929, easily ranks as the most dramatic day that Wall Street has ever seen. That day witnessed the beginning of the Great Stock Market Crash that over the following few years would result in an almost ninety percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA). Although not nearly as dramatic as “ Black Thursday,” September 15, 2008, is a date that modern day Wall Street insiders will not soon forget. On that day, one of Wall Street’s iconic investment banking firms, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. That bankruptcy filing ended the proud history of a firm that had played a major role in shaping the nation’s securities markets and economy for more than a century. Lehman Brothers had approximately $ 700 billion in assets when it failed, which makes it the largest corporate bankruptcy in U. S. history, easily surpassing the previ-ous headline- grabbing bankruptcies of Enron, General Motors, and WorldCom. By comparison, the telecommunications giant WorldCom, which temporarily held the title of the nation’s largest business failure after collapsing in 2002, had less than one-sixth the total assets claimed by Lehman Brothers. The shocking announcement that Lehman had filed for bankruptcy caused the DJIA to plunge more than 500 points within a few hours. That large loss was only a harbinger of things to come. Within six months, the DJIA had declined by more than 50 percent from its all- time high of 14,164...
Words: 7677 - Pages: 31
...Lehman Brothers & Repo 105 On September 15th 2008, the fourth largest U.S investment bank, Lehman Brothers, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. With revenues peaking at $19.2 billion in 2007 and over $600 billion in assets, the collapse of Lehman became the largest bankruptcy in history. Lehman’s demise was attributed to their aggressive investment strategy and significant exposure to the subprime mortgage market. As the housing bubble grew, Lehman Brothers acquired several mortgage lenders, some of the acquired firms frequently made loans to home buyers without full documentation (Jeffers 2011). When consumers began defaulting on mortgages and market conditions began to unravel, Lehman as well as many other banks faced huge losses. The write down of debt securities had significant adverse effects on Lehman’s balance sheet. Furthermore, credit rating agencies began focusing more on leverage ratios of investments banks. Lehman’s leverage ratios were already extremely high. A downgrade on Lehman’s credit rating would have sent Lehman’s share price on a downward spiral and hinder their ability to receive financing. In order to prevent these occurrences Lehman would have to sell some of its assets or raise capital. Lehman was unable to sell any of its assets or raise any capital because no one knew what the value of their complex mortgage securities were. In response to deteriorating economic conditions the investment bank used a very aggressive accounting maneuver...
Words: 1998 - Pages: 8
...Abstract Lehman collapse was the largest bank bankruptcy in the United States history. Complex causes combination lead to this tragedy. This paper is going to illustrate primary causes that result in its failure, and also discuss impacts on financial systems supervision and regulations. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1 3.1 Data collection 2 3.2 Methodology x 3.3 Limitations 3 4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4 4.1 5 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.5 4.2 4.3 6 5. CONCLUSION 1 6. REFERENCES 4 7. APPENDICES 1 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 1. INTRODUCTION The credit crunch occurred in 2008 has been arguably recognised as an extreme phenomenon during the financial crisis, which generated to the longest recession in the U.S. history since ‘the Great Depression’ in1929. Over 600,000 jobs lost in during 2008, and unemployment rate went up to 6.1% which was the highest point in 5-year time (Isidore, 2008). According to the Turner Review (2009), faultiness of regulation and supervision underpinned financial problems’ increase. Therefore, to illustrate the causes of Lehman Bother’s crash in 2008, events occurred during crisis progress are listed in Appendix 1. Among those serious cases, bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was concerned to be the most typical...
Words: 9576 - Pages: 39
...Barclays Acquisition of Lehman Brothers Background Barclays PLC, one of the main saving banks in the United Kingdom, agreed Sept. 16, 2008, to purchase the volume of Lehman Brothers Inc. for $1.75 billion. It has acquired parts of Lehman's equities commerce in Europe and took on some Lehman workers in Asia. Lehman, the fourth major asset bank in the United States, was one of the victims of the subprime advance disaster that led to the administration stand security of Bear Stearns in March 2008 and the conquest of advance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the U.S. Treasury in advance in September of 2007. Worth as much as $45 billion in early 2007, Lehman incurred almost $4 billion in losses in the third quarter has seen its stock worth fall down and was faced with disciplinary downgrades in its credit rating, which would have made it tremendously hard to raise much-needed capital. (Clark, 2008) Fuld who was the Head of Lehman sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy defense for Lehman on Sept. 15 2007 after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made it obvious that the administration would not spend any of taxpayers money to fund any of Lehman’s faulty asset. Under Chapter 11, which shields a corporation from creditors' lawsuits while it reorders its finances, Lehman became more attractive to Barclays; the British bank then bought Lehman's choicest bits devoid of assuming its more than US$600 billion in liabilities. Under the terms of the contract, which got approval from the insolvency...
Words: 2852 - Pages: 12
...1) Describe the situation at Lehman Brothers from an ethic perspective. What’s your opinion of what happened here? Lehman Brothers had a culture problem, as they incentivized there employees to take excessive risks. Their culture fostered significant risk taking. They use to reward employees with lots of money for taking risks. Individuals who made questionable deals were treated as heroes; on the other hand anyone who questioned decisions was often ignored or overruled. They use to ignore risk just hoping for outlandish profits, meaning it felt more like a casino then an investment bank. They ignored basic regulatory rules which created financial danger. Basic rules are the way companies grow and expand. Their desire to make money at all cost was more important than following basic ethical values. 2) What was the culture at Lehman Brothers like? How did this culture contribute the company’s downfall? The culture at Lehman Brothers was to take risks at all costs. When Transactions were presented to them they ignored the warning signals costing them. This eventually led to shady deals which eventually lead to the company’s downfall. Repo 105 is a good example of how Lehman misused this device to get some $50 billion of undesirable assets of its balance sheet at the end of the first and second quarter of 2008, instead of selling those assets at a loss. They continued to take lots of risks which caused them to lose a lot of money, there by bringing down there previously...
Words: 615 - Pages: 3
..."Lessons from Lehman Brothers: Will We Ever Learn?" Maria Diana Lazaro, Freda Macaisa, and Patricia Molina MGTP/521 February 20, 2013 Richard Dettling "Lessons from Lehman Brothers: Will We Ever Learn?" #2.Discussion Question: What was the culture at Lehman Brothers like? How did this culture contribute to the company’s downfall? Discussion: The unethical culture by the top executives in the Lehman Brothers company was one of the major contributions to the downfall of this organization. According to the legal expert Anton R. Salukis, Lehman Brothers excessively used accounting manipulations. The negligence or the willful blindness of Lehman’s CEO, Richard Fuld, promoted the practice of filing misleading financial reports by abusing an accounting device, Repo 105. Through this accounting manipulation, they could remove fifty billion of unwanted assets off the balance sheets on 2008 [ (Robbins, 2012, p. 147) ]. Looking into the culture of this corporation, it can be said that this company was corrupted and the only purpose of its leaders was the appetite for money. Because of the company’s success, the leadership became greedy. This greediness motivated them to falsify information that covered up the true company’s financial health. They engaged into bigger and riskier deals just to maintain their image to the stakeholders. The Lehman Brothers executives used a corrupted strategic plan to create a picture of a respectful status and an excellent financial statement. The...
Words: 864 - Pages: 4
