JPMorgan Chase & Co. won preliminary court approval of a $44.6 million settlement of a lawsuit in which it was accused of conspiring to rig bids on municipal bond deals, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled on Monday in a 2008 class-action antitrust case against JPMorgan and other banks. This settlement applies to only JPMorgan and its Bear Stearns unit. Other banks have settled, and state attorneys general have entered into accords with banks. "The court finds the agreement was entered into at arm’s length by highly experienced counsel and is sufficiently within the range of reasonableness," Judge Marrero wrote in his ruling.
