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Shareholders say accord to instill Google 'culture change'

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Judge considering how to address Google search monopoly

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Google not immediately available for comment

By Jonathan Stempel

June 2 (Reuters) - Google agreed to spend $500 million

over 10 years to overhaul its compliance structure, to settle

shareholder litigation accusing the search engine company of

antitrust violations, settlement papers show.

The preliminary settlement of so-called derivative

litigation against officials at Google parent Alphabet

, including Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and Google

co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, was filed late Friday.

It requires approval by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San

Francisco.

The changes include creating a standalone board committee to

oversee risk and compliance, previously the responsibility of

the Alphabet board's audit and compliance committee.

Alphabet would also create a senior vice president-level

committee to address regulatory and compliance issues, reporting

to Pichai, and a compliance committee consisting of Google

product team managers and internal compliance experts.

Shareholders led by two Michigan pension funds accused

Google executives and directors of breaching their fiduciary

duties by exposing the company to antitrust liability related to

its search, Ad Tech, Android and app distribution businesses.

"These reforms, rarely achieved in shareholder derivative

actions, constitute a comprehensive overhaul of Alphabet's

compliance function," resulting in "deeply rooted culture

change," the shareholders' lawyers said.

The changes must remain in place at least four years.

Shareholders would not be paid.

Google denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The Mountain

View, California-based company did not immediately respond to

requests for comment on Monday.

The accord was disclosed the same day U.S. District Judge

Amit Mehta in Washington, who last August found Google violated

federal antitrust law to maintain dominance in search, completed

a hearing to consider how to address the monopoly.

Mehta plans to rule by August. The U.S. Department of

Justice has proposed requiring Google to sell its Chrome browser

and share search data with rivals.

A derivative lawsuit is where shareholders sue officials on

behalf of a company.

The shareholders' lawyers plan to seek up to $80 million for

legal fees and expenses, on top of the $500 million. They did

not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is In re: Alphabet Inc Shareholder Derivative

Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of

California, No. 21-09388.