Claimants against Lehman Brothers 'should prove their case in court'

Banks making large claims for losses against Lehman Brothers have been warned they may have to prove any "outrageous" claims in court.

More than 6,000 derivatives filings were made against the US arm of Lehman Brothers following its bankruptcy in September 2008.

But Bryan Marsal, chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, has told the Financial Times that he intends to see that those persisting with claims have to prove their validity in a courtroom.

"There are some banks whose claims are outrageously unreasonable, but if we have to, we plan to bring these claimants in front of the judge to argue why this claim is not warranted," he said.

Mr Marsal added that making an example of such banks would persuade other claimants to think about how much they are intending to recoup from Lehman Brothers.

In November, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which is administrating the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, came up with a deal to unfreeze $11 billion worth of hedge fund assets tied up in the failed institution.

PwC said that it hoped to start returning the money to its rightful owners in the first few months of 2010.

By Asim Shah