Merrill Lynch, which apparently decided last month to settle a class action suit filed on behalf of investors in 18 mortgage-backed securities trusts, reportedly has agreed on a settlement figure - $315 million. One month ago, in the U.S. District Courts in Manhattan, Judge Jed Rakoff entered what Reuter's Alison Frankel refers to as, a very interesting order in a class action that asserts Securities Act claims against Merrill Lynch.  Judge Rakoff's one-page order said that Merrill had reached a settlement with the MBS class - and that the parties would file terms of the settlement on 12/5/11.  The order received little press - most likely because the case was on hold until December. Well, it looks like the wait is over, according to a source familiar with the deal.   And that deal is for Merrill Lynch to pay $315 million to the plaintiffs.  This would be by far the most any MBS defendant has agreed to pay in a public settlement of investors' securities claims. It's also only the 4th publicly-known MBS securities settlement - contrasted with settlements of breach-of-contract claims - and follows this past summer's $125 million Wells Fargo class action deal and last week's National Credit Union agreements with Deutsche Bank ($145mn) and Citigroup ($20.5mn). Ms. Frankel observes that the reported Merrill settlement should certainly reinforce what she said about the NCUA deals:  It's beginning to look like there's considerable value in these MBS securities cases.  [C-I Note: If that's the case, it bodes badly for other bank and brokerage firms.] The Merrill settlement, according to our source, also carves out claims by class members that have already brought their own suits against Merrill. That list includes, most prominently, AIG and the Federal Housing Finance Administration, which were investors in some of the 18 trusts but don't have to opt out of the settlement. A BofA spokesman declined to comment on the settlement; Merrill's lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom didn't return my calls. For further details, go to:   [Reuters, by Alison Frankel, 11/18/11]