But a New York Times examination of the [Lehman] case, based on interviews with more than a dozen lawyers and officials involved in the inquiry and a review of bankruptcy court documents, pulls back a curtain on private deliberations and clashing philosophies surrounding the decision not to bring charges. The S.E.C. quietly reached the decision in 2012 after officials sparred for months over whether Lehman omitted “material” information in disclosures to investors, an important legal standard. Mr. Canellos argued that the omissions were not material. And those who questioned that reasoning — like Ms. Schapiro, as well as some accountants and enforcement officials — acquiesced to Mr. Canellos’s team, which was closest to the evidence.
via Inside the End of the U.S. Bid to Punish Lehman Executives – DealBook
