Deloitte Settles Bear Stearns Lawsuit for $19.9 Million

Deloitte & Touche agreed to pay $19.9 million to settle claims by investors who lost money in the stock of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s Bear Stearns unit from 2006 to 2008.

The settlement, which must be approved by a judge in Manhattan federal court, resolves claims against Deloitte by a class of shareholders claiming Bear Stearns, with the help of Deloitte, its auditor, made misstatements about its financial condition. Bear Stearns shares dropped after news became public about risky hedge funds and negative ratings-company outlooks.

Bear Stearns, a New York-based investment bank, announced in January 2008 that U.S. prosecutors were inquiring into the collapse of the hedge funds. In March 2008 JPMorgan Chase announced it was buying Bear Stearns for $2 a share.

Last week, Bear Stearns agreed to a settlement requiring it to pay $275 million to investors to settle the litigation.

The case is In re The Bear Stearns Cos. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litigation, 08-mdl-1963, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Van Voris in New York at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net