Lehman drops Barclays litigation
Lehman Brothers Holdings said it will drop its appeal of a bankruptcy court’s ruling upholding Barclays’ purchase of its North American business in 2008. In a statement, Lehman said yesterday it will drop its challenge of Judge James Peck’s February ruling denying its attempt to overturn the sale, which was completed in the hectic days following Lehman’s $639bn bankruptcy filing. The company said pursuing the appeal would put an unnecessary strain on its estate. Lehman had accused Barclays of securing a windfall by withholding information from the court. Lehman also said it will not pursue an appeal of Peck’s follow-up decision earlier in September that Barclays had not improperly withheld $500m it was supposed to pay to employees it inherited in the takeover.