A report into the collapse of Lehman Brothers criticises senior executives and auditor Ernst & Young for serious lapses that led to the firm’s collapse. The report says Lehman was insolvent for weeks before it went bankrupt, sparking a global financial meltdown.

It accuses management of “actionable balance sheet manipulation” and using accounting tricks to hide debts. Ernst & Young said that its last audit of Lehman was “fairly presented” according to accounting rules.

The largest collapse in corporate history of the 158 year old institution has given us many learnings. The key one of course is always the same : Greed and fear is a dangerous combination.