Lehman Brothers clients will be able to reclaim USD11 billion of assets under a proposal being put forward by the failed bank’s administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The ‘Claim Resolution Agreement’ has been sent by the joint administrators to clients of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) and will allow the firms to receive their trust assets and have their positions closed out without recourse to posting further collateral or indemnifying LBIE.

Clients who have received the proposal have until 29th December 2009 to report their support or opposition to the deal, which will be implemented if at least 90% of clients offer acceptance.

“The administrators have worked closely with the creditors’ committee in developing the Claim Resolution Agreement and have the unanimous support of the creditors’ committee,” said Steven Pearson, joint administrator and partner at PwC.

“To benefit from these arrangements it is essential that affected clients take the time to understand the proposals and positively confirm their support.”

PwC will be sending an application to the High Court in the next few days, aiming to set a bar on asset claims for the end of February 2010, which the firm hopes will allow a “significant” return of assets before the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Pearson added that if the proposal is accepted, clients will be able to receive their assets within the “original timescales” planned for the scheme.

However, he warned that if the proposal fails, it “could take years” to return all assets.

“I am appealing to all affected clients to give their support to these proposals,” he said.

According to PwC’s figures, around USD35 billion of client assets were held by LBIE when it went bankrupt in September 2008, with USD13.3 billion returned to clients so far.