IBM reaches settlement with SEC

SAN FRANCISCO, US: IBM said on Monday it agreed to pay $7 million as part of a settlement of a U.S. regulatory investigation involving Dollar General Corp.'s 2000 financial statements.

International Business Machines Corp. said it neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in the settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

But it consented to the entry of an SEC administrative order directing it not to violate certain provisions of the federal securities laws and related SEC rules.

Dollar General is a client of IBM's Retail Store Solutions unit, which sells point-of-sale products, IBM said.

In 2004, IBM disclosed that U.S. regulators could take civil action against it for violating securities laws related to accounting transactions dating back to 2000 by Dollar General, a customer of IBM electronic cash register equipment.

In the transaction in question, IBM paid $11 million for certain used equipment as part of a sale of IBM replacement equipment in Dollar General's fourth fiscal quarter in 2000, according to IBM.