Before JONES, CLEMENT, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:These appeals challenge the district court’s approval of a global settlement between Ralph Janvey, the Receiver for Stanford International Bank and related entities, and various insurance company Underwriters, who issued policies providing coverage for fidelity breaches, professional indemnity, directors and officers protection, and excess losses. The settlement yielded $65 million for the Receiver’s claims against the insurance policy proceeds, but it wipes out, through “bar orders,” claims by coinsureds to the policy proceeds and their extracontractual claims against the Underwriters even if such claims would not reduce or affect the policies’ coverage limits. Among the parties whose claims were barred are Appellants comprising (a) two groups of former Stanford managers and employees; (b) Cordell Haymon, a Stanford entity director who settled with the Receiver for $2 million; and (c) a group of Louisiana retiree-investors.A constellation of issues surrounding the global settlement is encapsulated in the question whether the district court abused its discretion in approving the settlement and bar orders. Based on the nature of in rem jurisdiction and the limitations on the court’s and Receiver’s equitable power, we conclude the district court lacked authority to approve the Receiver’s settlement to the extent it (a) nullified the coinsureds’ claims to the policy proceeds without an alternative compensation scheme; (b) released claims the Estate did not possess; and (c) barred suits that could not result in judgments against proceeds of the Underwriters’ policies or other receivership assets. Accordingly, we VACATE the district court’s order approving the settlement and bar orders and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.BACKGROUNDThe massive Stanford Financial Ponzi scheme defrauded more than 18,000 investors who collectively lost over $5 billion. As part of a securities fraud lawsuit brought by the SEC, the district court appointed the Receiver “to immediately take and have complete and exclusive control” of the receivership estate and “any assets traceable” to it. The court granted the Receiver “the full power of an equity receiver under common law,” including the right to assert claims against third parties and “persons or entities who received assets or records traceable to the Receivership Estate.” SEC v. Stanford Int’l Bank, Ltd., 776 F. Supp. 2d 323, 326 (N.D. Tex. 2011). The district court also held that the court possessed exclusive jurisdiction over a group of insurance policies and their proceeds, at issue in this case, and ruled that, other than a lawsuit involving the Stanford criminal defendants, “[n]o persons or entities may bring further claims related to the [Proceeds] in any forum other than” the district court. Neither of these latter two orders was timely appealed.The policies issued to the Stanford entities covered, in different arrangements, losses and defense costs for the entities and their officers, directors and certain employees. At issue are the following policies: a Directors’ and Officers’ Liability and Company Indemnity Policy (“D&O”); a Financial Institutions Crime and Professional Indemnity Policy, including (a) first-party fidelity coverage for employee theft (“Fidelity Bond”) and “[l]oss resulting directly from dishonest, malicious or fraudulent acts committed by an Employee,” and (b) third-party coverage for professional indemnity (“PI Policy”); and an Excess Blended “Wrap” Policy (“Excess Policy”). The policy limits are as follows:
