NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s Bermuda-based life insurance unit, Lehman Re, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing alleged shortfalls on its reinsurance obligations and lawsuits against it in the US.

The petition for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in Manhattan court on Thursday listed more than $1 billion in debts and as much as $1 billion in assets. Under Chapter 15, companies can win protection from US lawsuits and organise US creditors to help with the company's main bankruptcy in another country.

Liquidators appointed to the Bermuda unit last September 23 want the protection to allow them to gain documents from the US, preserve assets in the US, and halt lawsuits.

"Litigation threatens the orderly liquidation of Lehman Re and will impair the return of assets to creditors," lawyers for Lehman Re's liquidators wrote.

Lehman was the fourth-largest US investment bank before it went bankrupt, listing debt of $613 billion.