On March 12, 2015, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a $69 million settlement between the plaintiffs and defendants in Policemen's Annuity & Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago v. Bank of America and dismissed the case with prejudice. Plaintiffs, a class of investors, had sued Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp in their capacity as trustees for 50 Washington Mutual RMBS. Plaintiffs alleged that the trustees breached the Trusts' Governing Agreements and the duty of food faith and fair dealing, and violated the Trust Indenture Act. Judge Forrest's approval of the settlement came one week after she denied certain institutional investors' motion to intervene in the action for purposes of blocking the settlement. The institutional investors, led by BlackRock and PIMCO, currently are asserting derivative claims against U.S. Bank, as Trustee, on behalf of 843 RMBS Trusts, and asserted that the settlement excluded them while simultaneously releasing their claims as to RMBS Trusts that overlapped between the two actions. The Court disagreed, finding that although BlackRock and PIMCO were excused from the settlement, the settlement did not release the claims they were pursuing. Order Approving Settlement. Stipulation and Settlement. Order Re Motion to Intervene.
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