Stamford-based SAC Capital Advisors, once among the world”™s top-earning hedge funds, has agreed to close its doors to outside investors and pay a record-setting $1.2 billion fine to settle charges of insider trading dating to 1999.
In a deal federal prosecutors announced Monday, the Steve Cohen-owned SAC also agreed to to hire a government-approved “independent compliance consultant” to monitor its trading as it winds down its activities through a probation period.
In a missive to two judges overseeing separate criminal and civil cases against SAC, prosecutors called terms of the unprecedented deal “steep but fair.” They said the penalties “are commensurate with the breadth and duration of the criminal conduct.”
At an afternoon news conference, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “what has happened today is a very substantial thing,” adding that SAC was paying “the just and appropriate price, in our view, for the conduct that occurred here.”
Bharara noted that “SAC has made it clear that no outside money will be used to pay for the penalties.”
Forbes places Cohen”™s personal wealth above $9 billion.
