City of Long Beach still trying to recoup Lehman investment

Not many of us noticed at the time, but Long Beach had the misfortune of plunking down almost $20 million with the investment bank, just days before its 2008 collapse. Getting back that money has not been easy. The city has been involved in lots of litigation, and at least it will be receiving $576,000 after settling part of a lawsuit late last month. But what about the rest? From the Press-Telegram:

City Attorney Robert Shannon estimated Wednesday it could be at least 2013 before Long Beach recoups some of its investment, and even then it could expect to get back about 20 cents on the dollar. "We have no control over the disbursement," Shannon said. "There are so many parties to the bankruptcy, literally thousands. It's basically headache-inducing to consider the amount of claimants."

The city's investment involved commercial paper, which is considered super-safe - well, usually.