Ex-CEO on Lehman's ruin: "I have to live with that"

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63J42Z20100420

No Dick you probably didn't know since you fired the guy that was trying to tell you.

Former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld lifted his bowed head, looked squarely at U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday and acknowledged that people were hurt in the collapse of the former Wall Street giant.

The 2008 Lehman debacle paralyzed global capital markets and unleashed calls for financial reform. The post-mortem on Lehman's demise is now raising more specific concerns.



A court-appointed examiner reported in March that Lehman used a technique known as "Repo 105" to temporarily remove some assets from its books, obscuring its full financial picture.

"I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of hearing anything about 'Repo 105 transactions' while I was CEO of Lehman," Fuld told the committee at a public hearing.

Repo 105 is a legal technique, but critics say it was improperly used by Lehman to mask its level of risk-taking. No charges have been brought against Lehman over the practice


In an emotional moment, a former Lehman executive, Matthew Lee, told the committee that he was suddenly fired in 2008 after raising concerns about the firm's Repo 105 dealings.

"On multiple occasions, I attempted to bring these issues to the attention of Lehman Brothers' executive management ... Within days of first raising issues, I was terminated," said Lee, choking up at one point and pausing to drink some water.

"Based on what I observed during my employment, I believe that there were serious, material accounting control and corporate governance issues at Lehman," he said.

In Defense of Lehman Brothers? What a Difference a Week Makes

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/in-defense-of-lehman-brothers-what-a-difference-a-week-makes-444445.html?tickers=XLF,FAZ,BAC,C,JPM,MS,GS

I know nothing lol, Does that really wash in todays tech world?

Last Friday, Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy examiner Anton Valukas issued a scathing report that seemed to all-but indict former executives of the firm, as well as its auditor, Ernst & Young. Executives used "materially misleading" accounting gimmicks and former CEO Richard Fuld was "at least grossly negligent in causing Lehman Brothers to file misleading periodic reports," the examiner concluded.
Immediately, the financial media and the blogosphere lit up with stories about the appearance of a $50 billion fraud perpetrated at the failed investment bank. Even those reports were "understating the seriousness of the deception Lehman's executives employed in an effort to fool investors and creditors about the health of their investment bank," declared The Business Insider's John Carney.

What a difference a week makes.

As FT Alphaville reporter Stacy-Marie Ishmael details, "the contrarian camp has come out in defense of Lehman Brothers" with astonishing speed:

-- The NY Post reports Fuld expressed a "sense of vindication" after reviewing Valukas' report. The former CEO "privately believes that the report...provides proof that he did nothing illegal," according to the tabloid. (Even if that were true, you'd think Fuld's attorneys would counsel him to keep quiet.)
-- Fuld's lawyer is apparently planning to use the "Schultz defense", with a modern twist: "A footnote in the report states that Mr. Fuld's lawyer informed the examiner that he did not use a computer and only accessed e-mails on his Blackberry but could not open up attachments, including one that went into the Repo 105 deals in March 2008," The NY Times reports.