Credit Suisse Settles with Enron for $90M in MegaClaims Suit

May 10, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Credit Suisse has agreed to pay the Enron Corp. $90 million to settle its portion of the lawsuit, which claims that it played a part in the energy giant's fall by helping management hide debt and inflate results.

According to the Associated Press, Enron said the settlement calls for about $337 million in bankruptcy claims Credit Suisse held against the Enron estate to not be distributed. Enron will also allow about $92 million in other claims Credit Suisse no longer holds.

Enron’s “MegaClaims” are separate from the other lawsuits linked to Enron’s collapse and the suits have been led by the University of California, which has recovered $7 billion from the banks on behalf of the company’s investors, according to Reuters.

Credit Suisse is the sixth in the line of investment banks that Enron has gone after for allegedly contributing to the fraud that caused the company’s December 2001 bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The settlement is lower than that paid out by JPMorgan Chase & Co, which agreed to pay $350 million and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, $250 million.

Other investment banks that have already settled with Enron for lesser amounts than Credit Suisse include, Dominion Bank, $70 million plus $60 million for claims it transferred to third parties; Royal Bank of Scotland Group, $48 million and Royal Bank of Canada $25 million.

Reuters reported that Enron is trying to reach agreements with five other banks named in its lawsuit, including Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Fleet National Bank and Merrill Lynch & Co.

The deal between Credit Suisse and Enron must still be approved by the US Bankruptcy Court in New York.

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