Enron shareholders are now receiving notices to submit claims in the SEC’s $450 million worth of settlements resulting from its Enron investigation. The shareholders eligible for part of the $450 million are a different group than was eligible to recover in the $7.2 billion Enron securities class action settlement (the claim deadline in the securities class action has now passed, and funds will reportedly go out in December). The SEC fund’s eligibility period is shorter than the class action, and covers Enron stock purchases between Jan. 20, 1998, and Nov. 7, 2001.

The SEC’s $450 million fund is a combination of civil fines collected since 2002 from banks that settled allegations that they helped Enron commit fraud, including $135 million from JPMorgan Chase, $101 million from Citigroup and $80 million from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. According to research by NERA on its new Securities Litigation Trends website (click here), the $450 million in Enron settlements is collectively the third highest SEC settlement ever, behind only AIG ($800 million) and WorldCom ($750 million).

Information and documents, including claim forms, for the Enron settlement are available at the Enron Victim Trust website (click here).