US court approves new beginning for Lehman Brothers

NEW YORK: A New York judge on Thursday approved a plan for a new business model for now-defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, whose collapse was one of the triggers of the 2008 global financial crisis.

The group can split into an asset management company, to be called Lamco, which is to mange Lehman's remaining assets for its creditors for five years, and another company to handle its 2008 bankruptcy, the financial news agency Bloomberg reported. Lehman hopes to thereby increase the money repaid to creditors.

Some 455 Lehman staff are to join Lemco, the remaining 220 staff are to oversee Lehman's bankrupt estate.

Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September 2008. Its demise created a shockwave on the world's financial markets.