CIGNA Settles

CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI), a Philadelphia-based employee benefits provider, last week announced the preliminary settlement of the securities class action pending against the company in the E.D. of Pa. The case, which was filed in 2002 and scheduled for trial in March 2007, alleges that CIGNA made various false and misleading statements by providing unrealistically high income guidance to the market and failing to disclose that it had been under-reserving for certain reinsurance obligations. The proposed settlement is for $93 million.