Investor Will Pay $2 Million to Settle Insider Charges

NEW YORK — A New York investor and his Cayman Islands company agreed Monday to pay $2 million to settle civil charges of trading on inside information taken from the investment group Coniston Partners.

The SEC said a Coniston employee who lived with the investor for 13 years leaked the information, which reaped him and his Caribbean company about $1 million in profits.

Charles Hack, 42, and Bentham International Ltd. agreed to pay $1 million each without admitting or denying guilt, said the Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed the complaint and the settlement agreement in Manhattan federal court.

Hack’s $1 million represents a penalty, while Bentham’s is for repayment of ill-gotten funds.

The trades were based on non-public information about stock accumulations made or planned by Coniston Partners in February, 1985, and September, 1986.