HCC INSURANCE HOLDINGS, INC.
ANNOUNCES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION SETTLEMENT
HOUSTON (July 21, 2008) . . .
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCC) announced today that it has
reached a settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) by consenting to the entry of a permanent injunction
against future violations of the reporting, books and records, and internal
controls provisions of the federal securities laws. The Company neither
admitted nor denied the allegations contained in the SEC’s complaint.
The settlement resolves completely the previously disclosed SEC
investigation into the Company’s historical stock option granting practices.
The SEC made no allegations of fraud against the Company and the Company was
not required to pay any civil penalty, fine, or money damages as part of the
settlement.
On July 17, 2008, the settlement of the class action litigation relating to
HCC’s historic stock option granting practices was approved in federal court
and a final judgment entered.
“We are very pleased that we have resolved the SEC investigation. Our
internal investigation, self-reporting and complete cooperation with the SEC
greatly assisted in the final resolution of this matter,” HCC Chief
Executive Officer Frank J. Bramanti said.
“The SEC settlement, together with the federal court’s recent final order
disposing of the class action litigation, completely and finally resolves
the Company’s stock option issue,” Mr. Bramanti said.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (HCC) is a
leading international specialty insurance group with offices across the
United States and in Belgium, Bermuda, Ireland, Spain and the United
Kingdom. HCC has assets of nearly $8.2 billion, shareholders’ equity in
excess of $2.5 billion and is rated AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor’s
and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings. In addition, HCC’s domestic property
and casualty insurance companies are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best
Company.
For more information, visit our website at
www.hcc.com.
|
Contact:
|
Barney White, HCC Vice President of
Investor Relations
Telephone: (713) 744-3719
|
|
|
|
Forward-looking statements contained in this press
release are made under “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of
risks and uncertainties. The types of risks and uncertainties which
may affect the Company are set forth in its periodic reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
|
* *
* * |
|
