PwC, as joint administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE), have announced a 43.3% second interim dividend to unsecured creditors, which brings the total recovery so far to 68.5p in the £1.

The second dividend, to be paid on 28 June, will see £3.5bn shared between more than a thousand creditors, who have already received an initial £2bn. Many more creditors have yet to agree their claims against LBIE and the administrators say funds have been retained to pay the same 68.5% dividend to them when they do so.

PwC said a third and subsequent dividend will be paid in the future, as assets continue to be realised and claims continue to be agreed. In their last progress report the administrators commented that at the upper end of their expectations, there eventually could be surplus funds available after unsecured creditors are paid in full.

Tony Lomas, lead administrator of LBIE and partner at PwC, said: 'This very large second dividend is possible because we have been able to resolve a number of multi-billion pound disputes with affiliates, on favourable terms, and to reduce our creditor claims reserves through settlements with a number of major trading counterparties.'

So far a team of PwC and Lehman staff has spent more than four years tracing the bank's assets and liabilities following its collapse in 2008.