Categories: OLD Media Moves

Former Dow Jones board member reaches settlement with SEC

David Li, a former Dow JonesÂ board member, has reached a tentative agreement withÂ the SEC to pay $8 millionÂ to settle allegations of insider trading during last yearâ€™s takeover by News Corp., the Financial Times reports Monday.

Brooke Masters, Francisco Guerrera and Tom Mitchell wrote, “The size of Mr Liâ€™s proposed fine is tied to the Leungsâ€™ alleged profit, said by the SEC to be $8m, the insiders said. Negotiations to settle the probe into Mr Li were stalled for a time over the SECâ€™s desire to bar him from serving as a director of a US public company.

“Since Dow Jones is now part of News Corp, Mr Li does not currently sit on any US board but he absolutely refused to agree to any ban.

“Contacted by the Financial Times, Mr Li declined to comment on the matter. An SEC spokesman also declined to comment.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.