Chris Dodd Calls for Investigation Into Lehman Accounting

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Chris Dodd (D – Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, urged the Justice Department to create a task force to investigate possible criminal conduct behind the accounting activities used by Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ) and other firms during the financial crisis.

At the center of the controversy is an unusual and contentious accounting technique called ‘Repo 105‘ used by Lehman Brothers to temporarily lighten its balance sheet.

Here is Dodd’s Letter:

March 19, 2010

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

I am deeply concerned about the facts that have come to light regarding the demise of Lehman Brothers and the accounting manipulation that contributed to it. I respectfully ask you to commission a task force to investigate the Lehman situation as well as other companies that may have engaged in similar accounting manipulation with a view to prosecution of employees or agents who contributed to any violations of the law.

According to the Report of the U.S. Trustee-appointed Examiner Anton R. Valukas, Lehman presented a misleading picture of its financial condition to the public by using extensive repurchase agreements known as Repo 105 transactions. The Examiner found that “Lehman did not disclose its use – or the significant magnitude of its use – of Repo 105 to the Government, to the rating agencies, to its investors, or to its own Board of Directors.” The result was to conceal its holdings of bad assets and to temporarily remove approximately $50 billion of assets from its balance sheet at the end of the first and second quarters of 2008. The Examiner found that Lehman used Repo 105 transactions for no other articulated purpose than to shrink its balance sheet at the quarter-end, in a manner that deceived investors and creditors about its true financial state and misleading others.

We must work tirelessly to reduce the incidence of financial fraud in order to restore trust and confidence in the financial markets. A task force investigation and taking appropriate Federal actions in these matters will contribute to these goals.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Dodd
Chairman