Lehman Brothers received the blessing of a judge to investigate whether the hasty sale of its broker-dealer business to Barclays deprived it of billions of dollars.

Lehman said liabilities assumed by Barclays in the sale, including $2bn (€1.4bn) in employee bonuses and other compensation, haven't been fully paid or were miscalculated at the time of the deal. In either case, Lehman contends the sale resulted in a "windfall" for Barclays reaching billions of dollars.