JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed in principle to settle class action litigation arising from Bear Stearns' sale of $17.58 billion of mortgage securities that proved defective during the recent U.S. housing and financial crises, Reuters reported on Friday. The largest U.S. bank, which bought Bear in 2008, will pay roughly $500 million to investors led by a group of pension funds. The accord, which requires court approval, was disclosed in a Thursday night filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It is separate from JPMorgan's $13 billion settlement with regulators in November 2013 over mortgage securities sales.
