Morgan Stanley to settle class-action lawsuit
NEW YORK, June 12 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) plans to settle a class-action lawsuit, brought by clients over the purchase and storage of precious metals, in a deal worth $4.4 million, according to a court filing.
The proposed settlement, which still needs to be approved by the federal court in Manhattan, includes a cash component of $1.5 million and economic and remedial benefits valued at about $2.9 million, according to the filing on Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in August 2005, alleged that Morgan Stanley had told clients it was selling them precious metals that they would own in full and that the company would store.
But Morgan Stanley was actually making either no investment specifically on behalf of those clients or making an entirely different investment of lesser value and security, according to the complaint.
Morgan Stanley was not immediately available for comment. But it has argued that there were no violations of law and no default or failure to perform or deliver precious metals, according to the filing.
The suit was filed by Selwyn Silberblatt, on behalf of himself and others, who bought precious metals -- gold, silver, platinum and palladium in bullion bar or coins -- from Morgan Stanley DW Inc. and its predecessors and paid fees for their storage, according to the filing.
The suit covers investors who did so between Feb. 19, 1986, through Jan. 10, 2007.
Silberblatt, a resident of Maine at the time of the complaint, bought silver bars from Morgan Stanley during the period.
((Reporting by Paritosh Bansal, editing by Lisa Von Ahn; 212-393-9461; paritosh.bansal@reuters.com)) Keywords: MORGANSTANLEY SUIT/
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