Lehman to distribute assets as it emerges from bankruptcy

More than three years after its collapse during the darkest moments of the global financial crisis, Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. emerged from bankruptcy Tuesday.

Rather than the start of a new chapter, however, the move is just the latest maneuver in a drawn-out process of unwinding Lehman that has gone on far longer than expected.

Lehman announced that it will begin distributeing assets to creditors in a “complete liquidation.” But that process will take years, meaning that Lehman – or more accurately, its legal doppelganger – is unlikely to vanish anytime soon.

Once the nation’s fourth-largest investment bank, Lehman filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history in September 2008. Even more so than its fallen Wall Street comrade Bear Stearns, its demise epitomized the myopia and catastrophic business decisions that lay behind the financial crisis.

Lehman ceased regular operations in 2008, and has been run since then by bankruptcy and restructuring experts. The company said it will make its first distribution to investors next month.

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