A federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $64-million settlement to be paid to investors by two former Dana Holding Corp. top executives who were the target of a securities-fraud class action lawsuit.

In an order issued this week, Judge James Carr of the U.S. District Court in Toledo tentatively approved the settlement and scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18. In the meantime, the judge ordered several actions take place before the hearing.

A proof-of-claim form is to be sent to all class members who can be identified, a notice of the settlement is to be published in two publications and released to a news service, and class members are to be given an opportunity to object and opt out of the class action.

The settlement would resolve a class-action lawsuit filed by union pension groups in 2005 that accuses Michael Burns, Dana’s former chief executive, and Robert Richter, the former chief financial officer, of knowingly misleading investors about financial woes at Dana in the years leading up to its bankruptcy in 2006.

Mr. Burns, the CEO from 2004 to 2008, left when the company emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization. Mr. Richter, CFO and vice president from 1999 to 2006, retired just days before Dana filed for bankruptcy. The lead plaintiffs were the Plumbers & Pipe fitters National Pension Fund, SEIU Pension Plans Master Trust, and West Virginia Laborers Pension Trust Fund.