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.
