SEC drops civil action against ex-Broadcom execs after criminal case tossed in California

SEC drops civil action against ex-Broadcom execs

SANTA ANA, Calif. ??? The Securities and Exchange Commission says it will not pursue a civil action for stock option backdating filed against four of Broadcom Corp.’s former executives.

The SEC filed court papers Thursday indicating the agency would not refile their case against the Irvine-based chipmaker’s co-founders Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli, former chief financial officer William Ruehle and former corporate counsel David Dull.

A federal judge tossed the civil suit late last year after finding that prosecutors who had filed parallel criminal charges against Ruehle and Nicholas engaged in misconduct.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney had given the SEC until Thursday to refile the case, but discouraged it from doing so.