Marvell pays $10M settlement to SEC

Weili Dai, one of the Marvell's co-founders, also entered into a $500,000 settlement with the SEC.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- Electronic News, 5/9/2008

Marvell Technology Group Ltd has entered into a $10 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the SEC's previously disclosed investigation into the communications chipmaker's history of stock-option backdating.

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint, the Santa Clara, Calif-based company agreed to settle the charges by consenting to a permanent injunction against any future violations of various provisions of the federal securities laws.

In a related agreement, Weili Dai, one of the Marvell’s co-founders, also entered into a settlement with the SEC. Also without admitting or denying the allegations in the SEC's complaint, Dai consented to a permanent injunction against any future violations of various provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed not to serve as a director or officer of a public company for a period of five years, and will pay a civil penalty of $500,000.

Marvell is many hard hit tech companies in the government's crackdown on the practice of stock option backdating. In July 2007, the company paid $327.4 million in compensation charges when it filed with the SEC a bevy of delayed or restated financial reports that had been held up by its internal stock-options history probe  completed in May 2007.

Top be sure, Marvell is hardly alone in paying an SEC settlement. Fellow communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp in April announced it would pay $12 million to the SEC to end its stock-option backdating saga.