JPMorgan to Return $800M to Lehman Clients

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) is returning more than $800 million in cash and securities to customers of failed investment bank Lehman Brothers, according to the Associated Press.

The U.S. bank acquired the assets in 2008 amid Lehman’s collapse. It has been holding onto the assets waiting to compromise on a deal with lawyers of former Lehman account holders.

The lawyers have been trying to recoup money lost to their clients during the financial meltdown.

Lehman, once the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2008 in what was an abrupt failure that remains the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Its massive collapse helped spark the credit crisis in the U.S. that sent the nation into its deepest recession since the Great Depression.

JPMorgan, which said the settlement will have no material affect on its financial results, served as the brokerage’s clearing bank during its liquidation, acting as an intermediary between Lehman and other parties, processing transactions in the securities markets on behalf of the then troubled bank.

Assets include $755 million in cash and about $106 million in securities, according to a report by Reuters.