Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., has agreed to pay $55 million to settle a nearly five-year-old lawsuit.
The company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it entered into a court-ordered settlement for the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in August 2020 by a group that claimed that a predecessor bank aided and abetted two commercial real estate borrowers that failed.
A mistrial was declared on March 4 after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The plaintiffs had been seeking $297.4 million and $368.1 million in damages.
If approved, the settlement is expected to be funded by early 2026.