WorldCom Investors Settle Fraud Claims

WorldCom Inc. investors settled claims of securities fraud against 11 former company directors for $55.3 million, renewing an accord that collapsed last month after a U.S. judge ruled part of it illegal.

The agreement requires the board members to pay $20.3 million out of their own pockets and their insurers to pay $35 million, investor lawyers said.

The directors’ accord, if approved, would leave auditing firm Arthur Andersen and former WorldCom Chairman Bert Roberts as the only defendants scheduled for trial Thursday in one of the biggest securities fraud cases in U.S. history.