Eleven of the former WorldCom outside directors sued in the WorldCom securities class action have agreed to pay a total of $20.25 million from their own pockets to settle the claims asserted against them in that action, New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, the sole Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund and Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff, announced today.

If this settlement and the settlements achieved earlier in the case are approved by the Court, this will bring the total amount recovered for the WorldCom investor class to $6,057,556,840.

The settlement reached today revives the earlier settlement between Hevesi and members of the board that was announced in January 2005. That settlement was later terminated by Hevesi after a judicial finding that a technical provision of the securities laws threatened to subsequently reduce a verdict that might have been returned against WorldCom’s former banks at trial. With Judge Cote’s preliminary approval earlier today of the $2 billion J.P. Morgan settlement and all other banks now having settled with Hevesi, the impediment to settle with the Directors was removed.

In addition, the Settlement provides for an additional $35 million to be paid by the insurance companies that had written directors and officers liability coverage for WorldCom, for a total settlement of $55.25 million. Also, the directors have agreed to cooperate with the plaintiff in the continuing WorldCom lawsuit.

“We are delighted that with the last of the bank settlements, we can now revive this historic settlement and proceed to trial against WorldCom’s former auditor Arthur Anderson and its former Chairman, Bert Roberts,” Hevesi said.

In addition to obtaining a significant portion of the available insurance coverage for the Class, the Settlement achieves a recovery from the settling directors in excess of their compensation as directors of WorldCom.

Hevesi is the Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff in the consolidated securities class action, In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation, which is pending before Judge Denise Cote in federal court in Manhattan. The settlement resolves all claims asserted in the WorldCom securities class action against former directors James C. Allen, Judith Areen, Carl J. Aycock, Max E. Bobbitt, Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., Francesco Galesi, Stiles A. Kellett, Jr., Gordon S. Macklin, John A. Porter, the Estate of John W. Sidgmore, and Lawrence C. Tucker. All served on WorldCom’s board of directors at various times between April 29, 1999 and June 25, 2002, the period during which WorldCom allegedly issued false and misleading statements to the investing public.

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