SAC Capital to plead guilty to insider trading charges
November 4, 2013: 10:26 AM ET
SAC Capital's founder chargeSteven Cohen.
Hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen's SAC Capital has reached a settlement on criminal insider trading charges, according to federal prosecutors.
Details of the settlement were scheduled to be announced at 1 p.m. ET Monday at the office of Preet Bhahara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
According to published reports, the settlement will include a guilty plea to criminal charges, with SAC paying a record $1.2 billion fine and agreeing to no longer manage money for outside investors. But the deal reportedly would still allow Cohen and SAC to invest his own wealth.
Cohen is one of the country's most famous hedge fund managers, with a net worth estimated at $9.4 billion in September.
SAC has not responded to a request for comment on any settlement.
Outside investors have been fleeing the fund this year as its legal problems have mounted.
The fund's guilty plea would follow a multi-year investigation that has already yielded charges against at least eight former SAC employees, six of whom have pleaded guilty.
Cohen himself has not been charged criminally. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced civil charges against him in July, accusing him of failing to supervise employees who engaged in insider trading.
In March, SAC agreed to pay the SEC about $615 million to settle civil charges related to alleged insider trading by employees.
The decision to bring criminal charges against the firm itself was a significant step. Prosecutors have generally been reluctant to indict companies since accounting firm Arthur Andersen collapsed a decade ago -- taking down nearly 28,000 jobs -- after being convicted in connection with the Enron scandal.
Prosecutors accused SAC in the indictment of fostering a culture of law breaking in which employees sought out corporate insiders for illicit investment tips. The indictment excerpts a number of e-mails and instant messages from SAC traders suggesting they had information from corporate insiders.
-- CNNMoney's Aaron Smith contributed to this report 
First Published: November 4, 2013: 10:25 AM ET
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