Former Trader to Settle Industry Ban Violations

Peter N. Brant, who pleaded guilty in 1984 to insider trading using advance knowledge of Wall Street Journal stories, has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle allegations that he violated a securities industry ban and defrauded clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, in an order last week, said Brant acted illegally as an investment advisor, made speculative trades for clients against their wishes and turned over holdings in their accounts to generate more commissions.

Brant, 52, a onetime top trader at Kidder Peabody, conspired with then-Journal reporter R. Foster Winans to profit from information that subsequently appeared in the newspaper’s “Heard on the Street” column. Brant became a government witness against Winans, served eight months in prison, paid a $10,000 fine and was barred from the securities industry.

Brant did not return calls for comment.