Martha Stewart settles SEC insider-trading charges

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Securities and Exchange Commission said that US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart had agreed to pay 195,000 dollars to settle civil charges of insider-trading.

Stewart, who has already been convicted on criminal charges and served jail time over the scandal, further agreed to a five-year ban on serving as an officer of a public company, the US markets regulator said.

The SEC also announced a settlement with Stewart's former Merrill Lynch stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, totalling 75,000 dollars. Bacanovic had already been barred from associating with a broker or investment adviser.

"This settlement achieves everything we sought to accomplish in pursuing this case," said Mark Schonfeld, director of the SEC's Northeast Regional Office.

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