Lehman Brothers' trustee James Giddens said that an initial round of distributions began Friday that should result in institutional customers getting all their money back, Reuters reported on Friday. A settlement announced earlier this year between the brokerage, Lehman's defunct parent company and its European affiliate will provide for full payments for hedge funds, corporate affiliates, counterparties and other customers, Giddens said. Corporate entities with customer claims against Lehman's U.S. broker-dealer have been waiting nearly five years for their money, as Giddens, the trustee tapped to administer the broker's estate, has worked to determine exactly how much money was available to pay them back. The linchpin to quantifying the estate's assets was a deal announced in February under which Giddens allowed Lehman's parent company to assert a $2.3 billion customer claim against the brokerage, and allowed a $9 billion customer claim to Lehman's European unit.
