Alibaba Group, as well as certain of its directors and current and former executives, and the underwriters of its initial public offering, have been the subject of a consolidated class action lawsuit. The California Action was brought in October 2015 on behalf of a putative class of investors who purchased Alibaba's American Depositary Shares and alleged violations of the United States Securities Act of 1933.

Alibaba disclosed this morning that on December 28, it entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which we have agreed to pay $75M to settle the California Action. It explains in a regulatory filing, "We anticipate that the majority of the contemplated settlement payment will come from our director and officer liability insurance. No contribution will be made by any Defendant other than the Company. As agreed by the parties, the settlement agreement expressly provides that the settlement does not constitute an admission or finding that the claims asserted in the California Action had any merit. Under the terms of the settlement, all Defendants in the action will receive a full release of all claims brought in the California Action.

The settlement does not release claims in the separate class action pending against us and certain of our current and former executives in federal court in the Southern District of New York, which alleges violations of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is also discussed in our prior SEC filings."

The settlement agreement is subject to court approval