Hedge funds were set to reap the rewards from betting on how much money would be recovered from Lehman Brothers. The major US lender that collapsed at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 was expected to pay creditors of its European unit hundreds of millions of pounds as administrators recovered assets. Payout was expected to be completed next year. The total estimated payout for LBIE creditors would be GBP 40 billion or USD 63.3 billion, according to PwC. This would include GBP 23 billion to be paid to trust claimants and GBP 16 billion for 3,400 unsecured creditors.

Joint Administrator for Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) and its partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers told Reuters he did not expect the value of the payout. "We were reasonably confident there would be some significant funds, but never in our wildest dreams would we have thought it would be 100 pence in the pound," he said.

In the weeks that followed the lender's bankruptcy in 2008, creditors' claims traded to as low as 10% in the secondary market. Now, their value is up to 120% to 135%, leading creditors to expect that a premium would be paid for their investment.