Washington Mutual Inc reached agreement to extend a key deadline in its $10 billion settlement that is at the end of its plan to end its bankruptcy, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

The company said in a filing with Delaware's bankruptcy court it extended the termination date of its settlement to January 31 from December 31.

Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath requested the extension to give her more time to rule on agreement.

The settlement agreement ended 18 months of legal battles with JPMorgan Chase & Co and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and divided $10 billion of assets among the parties.

Washington Mutual filed for bankruptcy in September 2008 after regulators seized its WaMu banking business and sold it to JPMorgan for $1.88 billion. It was the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

The case is In re Washington Mutual Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 08-12229.

(Reporting by Tom Hals; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Jpmorgan chase Settlement