By Fredric Sosnick, Douglas P. Bartner, Joel Moss, Solomon J. Noh and Ned S. Schodek of Shearman & Sterling LLP
Lehman Brothers Inc. (“LBI”) was lead underwriter for unsecured notes issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., LBI’s affiliate and parent. A Master Agreement Among Underwriters governed the relationship between LBI and the offering’s junior underwriters, and created among them a right of indemnification for liabilities resulting from securities fraud claims related to the offerings.
Following the bankruptcy of Lehman Holdings and the SIPA proceeding of LBI, investors filed securities fraud lawsuits alleging material misstatements and omissions in the offering documents, and asserted claims for contribution against LBI. The SIPA trustee objected, arguing that the claims were subject to mandatory subordination under § 510(b) of the Bankruptcy Code. The underwriters argued that because Lehman Holdings, not LBI, issued the securities, § 510(b) did not apply to the underwriters’ claims.
The Second Circuit held that claims arising from securities of a debtor’s affiliate must be subordinated to all claims senior or equal to claims of the same type as the underlying securities. As a result, the claims for contribution and reimbursement for losses incurred in the course of defending and settling securities fraud lawsuits brought by investors in securities issued by LBI’s affiliate were subordinated to the claims of LBI’s general unsecured creditors pursuant to § 510(b).
This Court of Appeals’ decision was based on precedent, textual support and legislative history, and it clarifies the appropriate classification of claims in the affiliate-securities context.
For the full memo is available here.