ANZ makes money off Lehman collapse

ANZ said that it made a small amount of money from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy because it was a net buyer of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) protection against Lehman. In a statement, ANZ said that: "Aside from the credit intermediation portfolio exposures, ANZ was a net buyer of CDS protection against Lehman. This is where protection has been bought and sold on Lehman's debt. Given Lehman have defaulted and ANZ is a net buyer of protection against Lehman, the effect is a small positive but it is not material to ANZ." ANZ had a total exposure to the Lehman group of companies of approximately US$120 million, comprised of US$28 million exposure to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and US$92m to Lehman subsidiaries.