Settlement Reached in WaMu Securities Violation Class Action

Failed bank’s subsidiaries to pay $26 million to investors who bought MBS certificates

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two former WaMu (Washington Mutual Bank) subsidiaries have reached a $26 million settlement agreement with plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleging Securities Act violations in connection with the sale of mortgage-backed securities by those subsidiaries of WaMu, according to plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel Steven Toll of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

“While this settlement by no means compensates investors for the full amount of their damages, we believe it is a good result given the bankruptcy of WaMu and limited funds available”

“While this settlement by no means compensates investors for the full amount of their damages, we believe it is a good result given the bankruptcy of WaMu and limited funds available,” said Toll who, along with Scott + Scott LLP, represents the Boilermakers National Annuity Trust, Doral Bank Puerto Rico, and the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. In 2008, WaMu became the nation’s largest bank failure.

The case involved substantial claims related to mortgage-backed certificates issued and underwritten by WaMu and its related entities. The value of the certificates, which were supported by pools of residential mortgage loans, collapsed soon after issuance. The named plaintiffs, representing a court-certified class of investors who had purchased the certificates on or before Aug. 1, 2008, alleged that loans backing the securities were “fundamentally impaired” and that they were misled as to the quality of the loans’ underwriting.

The case had been scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 17, 2012, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, in Seattle. Instead, the Court will shortly set a date for the final settlement hearing.

Additional information about the case (Case NO. C09-37MJP) is available online at http://www.cohenmilstein.com/news.php?NewsID=516.