Investor relations partner settles U.S. SEC insider-trading charges

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York-based investor relations executive on Tuesday agreed to settle civil charges that he illegally traded with inside information obtained while preparing press releases for company clients, U.S. regulators said.

Kevin McGrath of Cameron Associates will pay a little more than $25,000 in penalties, disgorgement and prejudgment interest, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The SEC said McGrath will be banned permanently from trading in the stock of any company that has received investor relations services from Cameron Associates within a one-year period.

He is settling the case without admitting or denying the allegations.

Andrew Calamari, the head of the SEC's New York office, said Tuesday that McGrath owed a duty to his clients to keep their information confidential.

"McGrath's self-centered misconduct betrayed both his own firm and his firm's clients whose confidential information he exploited for personal gain," Calamari said.

An attorney for McGrath declined to comment.

Officials at Cameron Associates did not return a call seeking comment.

The SEC alleges McGrath sold his shares in Misonix Inc when he learned the company planned to announce disappointing financial results and bought stock in Clean Diesel Technologies Inc before it announced positive market-moving news.

These actions let McGrath reap illegal profits and avoid losses of more than $11,000, the SEC said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Bill Trott, Bernard Orr)