The Bankruptcy Court in the Lehman Brothers chapter 11 cases entered a bar date order (Bar Date Order) on 2 July 2009, establishing 22 September 2009 at 5:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time (Bar Date) as the deadline by which all claims against the Lehman chapter 11 debtors (Lehman Debtors) must be filed (with an exception of proofs of claim relating to certain "Lehman Program Securities" (see below).

Any creditor whose claim is not actually received by Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions, LLC, the noticing and claims agent for the Lehman Debtors, or the Bankruptcy Court on or before the Bar Date will, among other things, be forever barred from asserting such claim against the Lehman Debtors.

The Bankruptcy Court also approved a special proof of claim form, which is attached to the Bar Date Order and available at www.lehman-docket.com.

The Bar Date Order provides that the Lehman Debtors will mail to creditors these proof of claim forms, each of which will have a unique ID number that should be used by creditors when filing proofs of claim.

In addition, the Bar Date Order establishes special procedures with regard to claims based on:

In summary, these procedures require that the holders of such claims both:

These questionnaires require holders of such claims to provide (by electronic upload rather than on paper) certain detailed supporting documentation for each claim. Any creditor who files a proof of claim but fails to complete the applicable questionnaire(s) will, among other things, be forever barred from asserting such claim against the Lehman Debtors.

This article is a summary of the Bar Date Order and interested parties should review the Bar Date Order (available at www.lehman-docket.com) in its entirety to ensure full compliance with its terms.

The definition of derivative contract now includes any contract that is a "swap agreement" or "forward contract" as defined under the Bankruptcy Code, but excludes "commodities contracts" and "securities contracts". Certain securities transactions (including repurchase agreements in respect of securities or loans) and exchange-traded futures and options are also excluded from the definition of derivative contract.

Further, any notes, bonds, or other securities issued by the Lehman Debtors or their affiliates are expressly excluded from the definition of derivative contract.

The Bar Date Order allows a claimant to submit one derivative questionnaire per proof of claim based on amounts owed pursuant to a master agreement. (Where there is no master agreement in place, a separate proof of claim must be submitted for each derivative contract.)

The information and supporting documentation required by the derivative questionnaire is extensive and includes:

Claimants should refer to the derivative questionnaire for a complete list of the documents and information required by it.

The guarantee questionnaire is more straightforward than the derivative questionnaire. Claimants are required to upload the specific promise, representation or agreement under which the guarantee claim arises.

Claimants who do not have such a document in their possession must upload a written explanation of the guarantee in reasonable detail.

For guarantees of derivative contracts, claimants must complete both questionnaires, but are not required to re-upload supporting documents on the guarantee questionnaire that have already been provided for the derivative questionnaire.

The Bar Date Order contains procedures for submitting claims based on securities of the Lehman Debtors or any of the Lehman Debtors' affiliates outside the US that are listed on the Lehman Programs Securities list on the website www.lehman-docket.com (Lehman Programs Securities).

Proofs of claim in respect of claims based on Lehman Programs Securities must be filed by 2 November 2009 at 5:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time.

Holders of Lehman Program Securities guaranteed by a Lehman Debtor are not required to complete the guarantee questionnaire, but are required to submit a separate proof of claim with respect to the guarantee against such Lehman Debtor.