NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has asked a bankruptcy judge for approval to pay up to $30 million of bonuses in 2011 to workers trying to unwind its derivatives business and raise cash to pay creditors.
The amount would include a maximum $15 million to be authorized under a new bonus pool for 2011, plus $15 million that was previously authorized by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck but has yet to be earned.
In filings Wednesday with the federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Lehman said payouts would go to about 175 employees. Of these, 150 would work full-time, down from 230 in 2010.
Lehman said the workers are helping it unwind more than 10,000 derivatives contracts involving in excess of 1.7 million transactions, and asserting more than $75 billion of claims.
Authorizing the payouts will help Lehman and its affiliates 'compete with the compensation and prospect of long-term employment offered by their competitors within the constraints of the bankruptcy code,' wrote Richard Krasnow, a lawyer for the company.
Lehman said it has already recovered more than $11 billion of cash from unwinding derivatives transactions, including $2.5 billion this year.
The company said it had been authorized to pay up to $50 million of bonuses to the derivatives group under this year's incentive plan, of which $35 million has been earned. It said the remaining $15 million would be available in 2011.
Lehman, once Wall Street's fourth-largest investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, 2008. It reported $639 billion of assets at the time, making its bankruptcy six times larger than any other in U.S. history.
The case is In re: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-13555.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Keywords: LEHMAN/BONUSES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The amount would include a maximum $15 million to be authorized under a new bonus pool for 2011, plus $15 million that was previously authorized by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck but has yet to be earned.
In filings Wednesday with the federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Lehman said payouts would go to about 175 employees. Of these, 150 would work full-time, down from 230 in 2010.
Lehman said the workers are helping it unwind more than 10,000 derivatives contracts involving in excess of 1.7 million transactions, and asserting more than $75 billion of claims.
Authorizing the payouts will help Lehman and its affiliates 'compete with the compensation and prospect of long-term employment offered by their competitors within the constraints of the bankruptcy code,' wrote Richard Krasnow, a lawyer for the company.
Lehman said it has already recovered more than $11 billion of cash from unwinding derivatives transactions, including $2.5 billion this year.
The company said it had been authorized to pay up to $50 million of bonuses to the derivatives group under this year's incentive plan, of which $35 million has been earned. It said the remaining $15 million would be available in 2011.
Lehman, once Wall Street's fourth-largest investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, 2008. It reported $639 billion of assets at the time, making its bankruptcy six times larger than any other in U.S. history.
The case is In re: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-13555.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Keywords: LEHMAN/BONUSES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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