Deloitte & Touche LLP has agreed to pay $19.9 million to settle shareholder litigation alleging that the firm misled investors about the health of its client Bear Stearns Cos. before the investment bank's 2008 demise, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The settlement was disclosed in papers filed in federal court in New York on Monday. It resolves claims by an investor group led by the State of Michigan Retirement Systems that Deloitte, Bear Stearns's outside auditor, made misstatements and omitted information in its audits of the bank's financial statements. Former Bear Stearns executives, including former chief executives James E. Cayne and Alan D. Schwartz and former chairman Alan "Ace" Greenberg, agreed to a $275 million settlement last week over related allegations that they deceived investors about the firm's prospects and financial well-being.
