JP Morgan Chase, which sold billions of dollars worth of worthless WorldCom bonds a year before the company filed for bankruptcy has reached a settlement with Alan Hevesi, comptroller of New York and trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund and will pay about $2 billion in claims. Funny – how quickly they settled, less than 24 hours after a jury found WorldCom chief executive Bernie Ebbers of a con-job. If the court approves the settlement the total money recovered from the banks would exceed $6 billion. Nearly 94.5% of the money recovered in the suit is going to “hundreds of thousands of investors – both large and small, including mutual funds, insurance companies and individuals,” reports The New York Times. In other news, jury selection for WorldCom civil trial started today.

William B. Harrison Jr., chief executive of J. P. Morgan Chase, said in a statement: “Given recent developments, we made a decision to settle rather than risk the uncertainty of a trial.”