Mike DeWine

Fannie Mae (FNMA) and its former auditor KPMG LLP agreed Tuesday to pay $153 million to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit in which Ohio public pension funds and other shareholders accused the company of issuing false and misleading financial reports in the early 2000s.The settlement was reached through mediation, according to documents filed in federal court in Washington, and is subject to court approval. Fannie and KPMG will each pay half of the $153 million."We are satisfied with the outcome and pleased to put the matter behind us," said Bradley Lerman, general counsel at Fannie Mae.Seth Oster, a KPMG spokesman, said the firm is "pleased" with the settlement, and that it was in the firm's best interest to "avoid the significant additional costs and the distraction and inherent uncertainty of protracted litigation." A person familiar with the situation said KPMG has already accounted for the settlement.The litigation began in 2004 after federal regulators accused Fannie of v...

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