A lawyer for the failed Reserve Primary Fund told the federal judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he was hopeful the parties may come to a settlement in the case, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The SEC sued managers of Reserve Primary in May 2009, accusing them of misleading shareholders about the safety of the fund after it suffered losses on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. debt. Reserve’s net asset value fell below $1 a share on Sept. 16, 2008, making investors vulnerable to losses and triggering a run on money-market funds that worsened the global financial crisis. A three-week trial is set to begin Oct. 1 before U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan.
