THE WHAT? BASF and law firm Cahill, Gordon & Reindel have agreed to a joint settlement of US$72.5 million to end claims that they concealed evidence of talc products containing asbestos, according to a report published by Bloomberg.  

THE DETAILS The dispute centred around a talc mine in Vermont that was alleged to have conducted ‘systematic fraud’ prior to its acquisition by BASF in 2006, covering up evidence of the carcinogen in the talc, which at the time was produced by Engelhard.

THE WHY? By settling, BASF and Cahill have avoided having to admit to wrongdoing as well as stopped several thousand lawsuits in their tracks, per Bloomberg.