The parties in the federal case seeking compensation from Puerto Rico bond underwriters asked a judge to allow them to engage in mediation.
Since dismissing some of the avoidance actions in February, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain has been waiting for the parties to propose a schedule for the case.
Instead, the parties on Thursday asked for a stay while they enter mediation to try to resolve their differences.
They said, if the stay order is approved the parties will file joint status reports to the court every 90 days.
"Seems to me the parties believe this will be a long and expensive litigation and want to see if they can settle for a reasonable amount," said Puerto Rico-based attorney and commentator John Mudd. "In these cases, it is a good idea."
The defending parties are Barclays Capital, BMO Capital Markets GKST, BofA Securities, Citibank N.A., Citigroup Global Markets, Goldman Sachs & Co., Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Goldman Sachs Mitsui Marine Derivative Products, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan Securities, Merrill Lynch Capital Services, Morgan Stanley & Co., Morgan Stanley Capital Services, RBC Capital Markets, Royal Bank of Canada, Samuel Ramirez & Co., Santander Securities, UBS AG and UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico.
The case involves about $13.5 billion in Puerto Rico bonds the firms underwrote from 2008 to 2014. Swain in February
Swain ruled in response to a
