A bankruptcy judge refused to dismiss a $346 million claim by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s brokerage against Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, saying he would "retain jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters" arising from his order.
Royal Bank asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan to dismiss the claim. Alternatively, it asked him to put on hold the brokerage's move to gather information to pursue its demand while Royal Bank waits for a district judge to decide whether to shift the case out of bankruptcy court.
Peck rejected all of the bank's requests, according to an order filed in court Monday.
ABN Amro, now owned by Royal Bank, owes the money, plus interest, to Lehman Brothers Inc. for early termination of a 1998 swap agreement, the brokerage said in a June filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
Royal Bank, of Edinburgh, argued it has a right to set off the funds against amounts it is owed by the brokerage and its affiliates.
Pholida Phengsomphone, a spokeswoman in Connecticut for Royal Bank of Scotland, declined to comment on the judge's order.
