A proposed settlement in a mortgage-backed securities lawsuit should not stop the U.S. Supreme Court from hearing a related case brought by the $25.1 billion Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System, lawyers involved told the court in briefs filed Thursday.
The case is Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi vs. IndyMac MBS Inc., et al.
In the Supreme Court case, which is scheduled for oral arguments on Oct. 6, Jackson-based Mississippi PERS is challenging a three-year time limit for investors to join or opt out of class-action lawsuits. Mississippi PERS' petition is supported by other pension funds including the $298 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento; $186.6 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento; $45.3 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association, Denver; $15.5 billion Montana Board of Investments, Helena; and $130.2 billion Texas Teacher Retirement System, Austin.
In the latest filings, lawyers for Mississippi PERS said they would still pursue the case because a proposed $340 million settlement is still awaiting a lower court's approval and it explicitly excludes Goldman Sachs & Co. The Supreme Court is being asked to settle the issue of whether Mississippi PERS is allowed to join the original case and related lawsuits brought in lower courts, which excluded it because of a three-year time limitation for such suits.
