Huntington offers $7.5M fine to settle SEC investigation

Business First of Columbus
April 25, 2005

Huntington Bancshares Inc. has offered to pay a $7.5 million fine to end a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its accounting practices.

The proposed deal also includes separate civil fines to be paid by Thomas E. Hoaglin, the bank's chairman, president and chief executive officer, Michael J. McMennamin, its former vice chairman and chief financial officer, and former Controller John D. Van Fleet.

The SEC has to agree to the deal, but Huntington said investigators have recommended the five-member commission accept it.

The Columbus-based company has been under SEC investigation since June 2003 over its accounting practices related to auto leases from 2002 and earlier. It reached agreements in March with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency to settle their investigations into the bank's accounting practices.