A former Vice President at ClubCorp Holdings, Inc. has agreed to settle charges that he engaged in insider trading after learning about a possible sale of the company.

The SEC's complaint alleges that Nelson "Frank" Molina, the former Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasury at ClubCorp, discovered that ClubCorp was exploring significant transactions involving the company. According to the complaint, despite having signed ClubCorp's securities trading policies, which prohibited him from buying or selling ClubCorp securities at any time he had "material non-public information concerning the [c]ompany," Molina subsequently purchased shares of the company's publicly-traded stock. Once the news became public, ClubCorp's stock price rose more than 16 percent, increasing the value of Molina's stock by over $78,000. After receiving an inquiry from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, ClubCorp contacted Molina, who acknowledged his unlawful trading and promptly resigned from the company. Molina then retained counsel, who reported his misconduct to the SEC staff and provided materials documenting his unlawful trading.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Molina agreed to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. Molina will disgorge his ill-gotten gains and pay a penalty of $39,230, which is one-half the disgorgement amount.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Tom Keltner with litigation assistance from Matthew Gulde, and supervised by Scott F. Mascianica and Eric R. Werner. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.