BANKS | Mon Jun 26, 2017 | 1:03pm EDT

U.S. top court buries CalPERS lawsuit over Lehman collapse

By Andrew Chung | WASHINGTON

Nearly 30 banks that underwrote billions in debt offerings by Lehman Brothers before Lehman collapsed in 2008 will not have to defend a securities fraud lawsuit by a big California pension fund, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

The justices ruled 5-4 that the California Public Employees' Retirement System waited too long to sue the banks, upholding a federal appeals court decision throwing out the lawsuit.

The dispute involves claims by the fund, known as CalPERS, against units of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), France's BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA) and Spanish lender BBVA (BBVA.MC), among others.

Lehman Brothers investment bank's collapse in 2008 helped trigger a global financial crisis.

CalPERS, an investor in the banks' securities, was a member of a class action suit filed in 2008 claiming the underwriters violated the Securities Act by misrepresenting and omitting facts about Lehman's accounting and risk management practices.

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