WorldCom

Four investment banks connected to WorldCom Inc. have settled with the class action suit stemming from the company's collapse in 2002. The four banks, ABN AMRO, Mitsubishi Securities International PLC, BNP Paribas Security Corp. and Mizuho International each agreed to pay a grand total of $428.4 million. ABN AMRO has to pay $278.4 million, Mitsubishi Securities has to pay $75 million and BNP Paribas and Mizuho both have to pay $37.5 million. Other financial institutions with ties to WorldCom have settled with the class action suit as well. Most notably, the Bank of America Corp. settled for $460.5 million earlier this year, while Citigroup Inc. settled last year for $2.58 billion. Other groups who agreed to pay earlier this year are Lehman Brothers Inc., who settled for $62.7 million, and three more investment banks, Credit Suisse First Boston, Credit Suisse Group and Goldman, Sachs & Co., who each settled for $12.54 million. The class action suit was brought against the former executives of WorldCom Inc. as well as the company's accountant and several banks which backed the company. The suit was filed in response to the communications company's 2002 bankruptcy, caused by a gross mismanagement of money, believed by many to be a result of massive fraud. The former CEO of WorldCom, Bernard Ebbers, is on trial right now for his part in the company's collapse. (Mar-09-05) []