After more than four years of litigation, General Electric has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company and its executives, including CEO Jeffrey Immelt, of misleading investors about the company’s exposure to subprime mortgages and other risky investments during the financial crisis.
A group of investor plaintiffs led by the State Universities Retirement System of Illinois announced the deal in a filing on April 29 with Southern District Judge Denise Cote (See Profile) in Manhattan. Lawyers for the plaintiffs at Berman DeValerio and Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart wrote that the settlement came about after the parties agreed in January to a second round of mediation with retired California state court judge Daniel Weinstein. GE and two executives, Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin, were represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The proposed settlement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing.
