A U.S. federal judge today gave final approval for CIBC and two major U.S. banks to pay US$6.6 billion to settle civil claims that they helped Enron Corp. manipulate earnings.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston, Tex., approved the deals with CIBC, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. Her ruling came as a jury in another courtroom deliberated the fate of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling in a criminal fraud and conspiracy trial.

Other banking and brokerage firms that have not struck settlements include Toronto-Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada), Merrill Lynch & Co., Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.

CIBC, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup announced their settlements last year: CIBC US$2.4 billion, J.P. Morgan US$2.2 billion and Citigroup US$2 billion.