Settlement reached in Advanta lawsuit

Dennis Alter and other former executives at Advanta Corp. have reached a $13.25 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging that investors who acquired Advanta shares between Oct. 16, 2006, and Jan. 30, 2008, were misled about the condition of the now defunct Montgomery County credit card lender.

A hearing on the final approval of the proposed settlement is scheduled for Aug. 4 in the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, attorneys for the plaintiffs, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd L.L.P., said. The lead plaintiff in the case was the Western Pennsylvania Electrical Employees Pension Fund.

The settlement payment will come entirely from insurance proceeds, according to the stipulation of settlement.

Separately, in January, a federal judge approved a $4.5 million class-action settlement for Advanta employees who lost money in employee stock-ownership and savings plans.

Alter and Advanta vice chairman William Rosoff continue fighting a lawsuit filed last June by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The suit blamed Alter and Rosoff for the collapse of Advanta Bank, Advanta's credit-card subsidiary, and sought $219 million in damages to offset losses to the deposit insurance fund when the bank failed in March 2010.