In a Form 8-K SEC Filing of today, Prosper announced that it settled the class action lawsuit that has been going on since 2008 (see first coverage by P2P-Banking.com). The plaintiffs claimed that Prosper sold unregistered securities. The claimants originally filed for 47M US$. Under the settlement Prosper will pay 2 million US$ now and 8 million US$ spread out over the next 3 years.
The class members in the Lawsuit alleged that PMI offered and sold unqualified and unregistered securities in violation of the California and federal securities laws. The class members in the Lawsuit sought rescission damages against PMI and the other named defendants, as well as treble damages against PMI and the award of attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest (collectively, the “Claimsâ€). In exchange for a full release of the Claims as to all class members against all defendants, and subject to Court approval, PMI agreed to pay settlement consideration in the total amount of $10 million according to the following schedule: (i) $2 million within 10 days of entry of an order by the Court granting preliminary approval of the settlement (“Preliminary Approvalâ€); (ii) $2 million on the one-year anniversary of Preliminary Approval; (iii) $3 million on the two-year anniversary of Preliminary Approval; and (iv) $3 million on the three-year anniversary of Preliminary Approval.