MF Global Holdings, Ltd. (fka MFGLQ)

[mrfence]

Group of Financial Institutions Settles MF Global Suit

Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup Among Firms in Settlement


By Joseph Checkler

Jan. 6, 2015 5:22 p.m. ET


A group of well-known financial institutions settled a lawsuit brought by former MF Global Holdings Ltd. investors for $74 million.

In a filing with U.S. District Court in Manhattan, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the settlement with financial institutions that served as underwriters for the sale of MF Global ‘s stock and bonds before its collapse—among them units of Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS -0.71% ., J.P. Morgan JPM +1.71% & Co. and Citigroup Inc. C +0.80% —”dismisses and releases” all claims against them in the suit.

The investors, now led by Virginia Retirement System, sued the financial institutions as part of a larger 2011 suit against former MF Global Chief Executive Jon S. Corzine and other company executives, accusing the parties of not disclosing the risks associated with MF Global ‘s European sovereign debt trades using repurchase-to-maturity transactions.

In the filing, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the parts of the suit against other parties remain alive. A judge must approve the settlement for it to take effect. The plaintiffs are asking for preliminary approval of the pact quickly, with a final approval later.

Aside from Goldman, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, units of Deutsche Bank AG DBK.XE -0.18% , Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., RBS Securities Inc. and Sandler O’Neill + Partners L.P. settled.

Lawyers representing the seven institutions didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

MF Global imploded just over three years ago, as investors fled the firm after its bets on European sovereign debt came to light. The exodus created what was believed to be a $1.6 billion shortfall in customer accounts that should have been segregated from MF Global’s money pool.

Even with the perceived shortfall recovered, lawsuits against the company’s former officials and other employees—as well as the firms who did business with MF Global—remain. Mr. Corzine and the other executives have been tapping two separate insurance policies to pay for their defense costs. While most of the suits are still in their early stages, lawyers for the former executives have said the proceedings will ramp up soon.

Last year, a bankruptcy judge gave them permission to tap most of a $200 million directors and officers insurance policy. Former MF customers have fought their use of a separate policy for errors and omissions, saying some of it belongs to them.

Mr. Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chairman and once New Jersey’s governor, has denied wrongdoing, as have the other former executives.

Write to Joseph Checkler at [e-mail]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/group-of-financial-institutions-settles-mf-global-suit-1420582922