The former vice president of an Atlanta bank and a friend have agreed to pay fines totaling nearly $360,000 to settle charges of insider trading in connection with the bank's sale in July of 2002.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Wednesday. The complaint says Patrick S. Anderson, a former vice president at the $1 billion-asset Tucker Federal Bank, and Vickie L. Westbrook began buying shares in Tucker's parent company, Eagle Bancshares, after Mr. Anderson learned that it would be sold to Royal Bank of Canada.
The deal was announced in March of 2002; Royal Bank paid $153 million - a 45% premium to Eagle's market cap on the day before the announcement. Soon after the closing, the complaint said, Mr. Anderson and Ms. Westbrook sold their shares at a substantial profit; he pocketed $135,000, she $33,000.
Without admitting wrongdoing, Mr. Anderson and Ms. Westbrook agreed to repay their respective profits plus civil money penalties in the same amounts, for a total of $336,000. They will also pay a combined $21,000 in interest. The funds will be deposited into Treasury Department coffers.
