Lehman’s Worst Offense: Risk Management

Last post, we argued that Lehman’s Repo 105 balance-sheet-management tactic was not the worst thing Lehman Brothers did on its way to extinction. Volume 8 of Anton Vakulas’s Bankruptcy Examiner’s report details a bunch of blunders with far more serious consequences....

Lehman Brothers: What’s All the Fuss About?

A few weeks ago, the world was shocked to learn that Lehman Brothers was guilty of “window dressing” its balance sheet throughout 2007 and 2008. As the New York Times’ Dealbook put it, ”In Lehman’s Demise, Some Shades of Enron.” The outrage is based on information in...

Character is Destiny — Especially on the Downside

What do Calisto Tanzi, Bernie Ebbers, and Edward Groves have in common? Several things, actually.   For one, they all ran major companies. Tanzi was CEO of Parmalat, an Italian food company; Ebbers was CEO of WorldCom, an American telecommunications firm; and Groves...

Early Warning Signs at Satyam

We mentioned the absence of early warning signs in our earlier post on Satyam – especially the lack of a gap between earnings and cash flow. It turns out there were a few. We can classify them either as behavioral or financial.   Behavioral Warning Signs Behavioral...

Satyam Surpasses Enron

It’s the biggest corporate fraud in Indian history, and the press labeled it “India’s Enron” as soon as the news broke. But Satyam looks to be worse than Enron in scope, if not in scale. How can we say that before the authorities have completed their investigation? We...