Astoria Financial Corp. and acquirer Sterling Bancorp on June 30 entered into a stipulation and settlement covering the Garfield v. Sterling lawsuit, which claims the parties had, among other things, submitted a "materially deficient and misleading" proxy statement.

The April 26 Garfield action had been filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Rockland. Under the settlement, Astoria and Sterling deny the allegations, but Sterling will pay the plaintiffs' legal fees and expenses.

Another update on merger-related lawsuits is a July 10 stipulation in connection with the May 15 Karp v. Astoria suit. The stipulation indefinitely extends the defendants' time to respond to the suit, pending the outcome of a settlement approval process. The case was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Nassau.

Montebello, N.Y.-based Sterling's purchase of Lake Success, N.Y.-based Astoria received shareholder approvals in June and is expected to close within the year.