Bre-X Shareholders Sue Banking Firms

Bre-X Minerals Ltd. shareholders have sued J.P. Morgan & Co., Lehman Bros. and Nesbitt Burns Inc. over the investment banks’ connection to Bre-X’s Busang deposit, revealed in March as allegedly the world’s biggest gold mining fraud. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Texarkana, Texas, consolidates nine U.S. class-action lawsuits and also names Bre-X management and their mining consultant, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.’s Kiborn subsidiary. The investment banks were added to the lawsuit because their bullish recommendations helped Bre-X, a little-known Calgary, Canada-based exploration company, attain a market capitalization of $4.3 billion, a lawyer associated with the suit said. Executives at J.P. Morgan, Lehman and Nesbitt all refused to comment.