A year on and we’re still learning from Lehmans
Still far too early to judge PwC's efforts
Twelve months ago, Tony Lomas took a call in the early hours of Sunday
morning which would change not only his life, but that of thousands of Lehmans
staff, investors, PricewaterhouseCoopers and ¬ let’s face it ¬ the global
economy. Lomas, his other administrators and staff at the firm are blazing a
trail in terms of carving out returns to creditors and wider improvements to
insolvency.
While some have sneered at the tens of millions of pounds in fees they have
taken, it’s hard to say they haven’t earned it.
For PwC and Lomas to have come through the year with little recrimination is
an achievement in itself ¬ but it hasn’t been a total success. They have
admitted progress has been slow, and losing out on setting up the scheme of
arrangement, which would have sped up their ability to make returns to
creditors, came as a blow.
While the old crystal ball struggles to predict where this unique insolvency
could go, there are undoubtedly many more twists and turns ahead. However, we
may need to reach the fifth or sixth anniversary of 15 September before we can
truly judge PwC’s efforts.
Further reading
Lehman administrators call for US-style rules in UK insolvency