Tsugio Yukihira, former chairman of Yamaichi Securities Co., has agreed to a negotiated settlement in a damages suit over his responsibility for the November 1997 collapse of the major brokerage house, judicial sources said Friday.

In the suit filed with the Tokyo District Court, Yukihira, 69, was blamed for window-dressing the brokerage's accounts and illegally compensating the investment losses of select clients.

Suitors claimed the actions led to the collapse of the company, which was one of the nation's four largest securities houses.

The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, but the sources said Yukihira will likely make some payments to Yamaichi's receivers, who took over the suit initially filed by Yamaichi shareholders.

Yukihira is the last of the former executives that were targeted in the damages suit to reach a negotiated settlement. Among other Yamaichi executives, the suit also targeted the former president, Atsuo Miki, 65.

In March 2000, Yukihira and Miki were found guilty of concealing losses of more than 200 billion yen for three years beginning April 1994 and for illegally paying dividends worth around 6 billion yen in 1997, when the company did not have any retained earnings to cover them.

Miki is contesting the lower court ruling in the Tokyo High Court, but Yukihira did not file an appeal and his sentence of 21/2 years in prison is final.

Yamaichi shut down operations in November 1997 under the weight of huge liabilities. It was declared bankrupt June 2, 1999.