JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Friday it has agreed to pay $4.5 billion to settle claims by investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities before the collapse of the U.S. housing market. The bank reached the agreement with 21 institutional investors in 330 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts issued by JPMorgan and Bear Stearns, which it took over during the financial crisis, according to the bank and lawyers for the investors. The deal still has to be accepted by trustees for the trusts holding the securities, the parties said. The settlement does not include trusts issued by Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan also acquired. The deal is separate from the preliminary $13 billion settlemnet JPMorgan has reached with the U.S. government that would resolve a raft of actions over mortgage-backed securities. "This settlement is another imoprtant step in J.P. Morgan's efforts to resolve legacy related RMBS matters," the bank said in a statement. Under the agreement,
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