NEW YORK (Reuters) - The trustee handling the liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's brokerage unit asked a U.S. bankruptcy court on Thursday for the power to issue subpoenas to obtain documents and information from current and former employees and officers.
In papers filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Trustee James Giddens said he needed "immediate and complete access" to information from the company and the current and former employees, to investigate the events and circumstances that led to Lehman's collapse.
The law regarding brokerage liquidations, known as the Securities Investor Protection Act, specifically allows the trustee to "investigate the acts, conduct, property, liabilities and financial condition," of the company, the court papers said.
After his investigation, Giddens would provide a report to the court, the papers showed. Giddens said in the court filing, he received some voluntary cooperation from those at Lehman and Barclays Capital
A Lehman spokesperson was not immediately available.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, filed for bankruptcy protection on September 15 in the largest U.S. bankruptcy filing in history. The trustee has been involved with transferring customer accounts to Barclays and liquidating what is left of the brokerage business.
Lehman is the focus of three grand jury investigations and several other government investigations, in which some 12 people have already been subpoenaed, Lehman's bankruptcy lawyer, Harvey Miller, said in court in October.
Giddens previously opposed a creditor request for the court to appoint an examiner, saying it would interfere with his ability to conduct his own investigation.
(Reporting by Emily Chasan; Editing by Andre Grenon)
