FACTBOX-What key witnesses told Lehman examiner
Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:57pm EST
Stocks
March 11 (Reuters) - A court-appointed examiner conducted dozens of interviews with key figures in the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK) collapse. [ID:nN11252693]
Here are some of the things key witnesses told Examiner Anton Valukas over the course of the interviews that took place between May 2009 and January 2010.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke:
"I speak for myself, and I think I can speak for others, that at no time did we say, 'We could save Lehman, but we won't."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time of the Lehman bankruptcy):
"The Government of the United States left too much of the burden on the Fed to contain [the damage], and it was too late to use the full arsenal of Government powers . . . If these [emergency statutory powers] had come earlier, we could have made it somewhat less damaging."
Former Lehman CEO Dick Fuld, contradicting former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, according to the report:
Paulson told the Examiner that he advised Fuld in July that there would be no federal assistance for Lehman. While Fuld agrees that Paulson never promised federal assistance, Fuld said that Paulson never expressly ruled out the possibility.
JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on his willingness to help Lehman out, according to the report:
Dimon asserted that in every conversation he had with Fuld, Dimon reiterated that JP Morgan wanted to help and that if anything JP Morgan was doing was hurting Lehman, Fuld should let Dimon know. Dimon stated that JP Morgan did not want to harm Lehman... (Reporting by Phil Wahba; editing by Carol Bishopric)
Quelle: www.reuters.com/article/idCNN1125655120100312?rpc=44
THEGOTCHI
Optimismus ist, bei Gewitter auf dem höchsten Berg
in einer Kupferrüstung zu stehen und »Scheiß Götter!« zu rufen.
(Terry Pratchett)