ComplianceJuly 15, 2011

Puerto Rican Bank Settles Stock Drop Case

An $8.2 million settlement has been preliminarily approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in the consolidated class action lawsuit against Puerto Rico-based financial services firm, Popular Inc.

Reported by PLANADVISER staff

Gainey & McKenna and Harwood Feffer LLP, the plaintiffs’ counsel, and Popular, Inc. announced that the settlement will be allocated to plan participants’ accounts who had investments in employer stock during the class period.

The settlement class consists of all participants of the Popular, Inc. Puerto Rico Savings and Investment Plan and the Popular, Inc. U.S.A. 401(k) Savings & Investment Plan who held employer stock, as that term is defined in the plans, in their individual accounts at any time during the period starting on January 24, 2008, and ending on April 6, 2011.

A hearing is set for August 26 for final approval of the settlement.

In May 2009, the Milberg class action law firm announced it was investigating possible violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in its handling of the Popular, Inc. U.S.A. 401(K) Savings & Investment Plan by keeping company stock as a 401(k) plan investment option when it was no longer prudent to do so and by not fully disclosing its true financial condition to participants (see “Milberg Announces Puerto Rican Bank ERISA Probe“).