Pfizer has agreed to accept $29m to resolve a long-running dispute linked to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2013 insider trading settlement with SAC Capital Management, the former hedge fund of Steven A Cohen, according to a report by Reuters.
The proposed payment, disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday, represents part of the $75.2m remaining from SAC Capital’s $601.8m settlement over illegal trades in pharmaceutical companies Wyeth and Elan by former portfolio manager Mathew Martoma. The balance of $46.2m would be paid to the US Treasury.
The agreement would end Pfizer’s appeal of a 2024 ruling that denied it access to the remaining funds after investors in Wyeth and Elan were compensated. Pfizer had argued it was entitled to the full amount due to its 2009 acquisition of Wyeth and the fiduciary obligations of a neurologist who provided confidential trial data to Martoma.
Under the settlement, which is subject to court approval, Pfizer said the outcome supports the enforcement of securities laws and the distribution of penalties to harmed parties.
Martoma was convicted of securities fraud in 2014 and sentenced to nine years in prison. Cohen was not criminally charged. SAC Capital was rebranded as Point72 Asset Management in 2014, which has since grown into one of the world’s largest hedge fund platforms.
