Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Lehman Maintained Squeaky Clean Image In Subprime Mess By Hiding Behind Sleazy Sub?

In New York City, The Village Voice published an investigative report on how Lehman Brothers, the so-called "white shoe" Wall Street investment banking firm maintained its squeaky clean image as it made huge profits in the filth and the sludge of the subprime sewer.
  • [I]t was a sweet proposition while it lasted. But like any racket, the subprime business had its seamier side. And for that, Lehman kept its squeaky-clean image by turning to a less holy subsidiary. Call her Aurora.

  • When the mortgage market collapsed and the huge investment bank failed last month, it dragged other financial markets down with it. Lehman's executives walked away with buckets of cash.

  • But buried beneath the bank, way down at the bottom of the pile, are people like Brooklyn lawyer Philip Grant and Bart Christofferson, an excavator in Utah. They live 2,000 miles apart, but they have one thing in common: They were both worked over by a Lehman Brothers subsidiary called Aurora Loan Services.

For more, see Wall Streetwalkers: The Sleazy Lehman Brothers Subsidiary (Lehman Brothers maintained its squeaky-clean image by relying on its seamier subsidiary. Just call her Aurora).

Go here for the entire story on one web page.