UPDATE: Target Confirms It Has Negotiated A $19 Million Data Breach Settlement With MasterCard

Target confirmed a report in the Wednesday edition of The Wall Street Journal of a settlement with MasterCard concerning claims of card-issuers arising from Target's 2013 data breach.  The data breach, which occurred during the post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, compromised over 40 million credit and debit cards used to make purchases at Target stores. The settlement has not been presented to the court for approval but was described in a press release issued by Target after the close of business on Wednesday.  The settlement proposes payment of up to $19 million (previous reports had indicated a fund of $20 million) to reimburse issuers of MasterCard-branded payment cards for costs arising from reissuance of cards compromised by the data breach.  Target's obligation to proceed with the settlement is conditioned on acceptance by issuers of at least 90% of the eligible payment card accounts.  Target indicates in its press release that it intends to "defend itself