News Summary: SEC paying $580,000 to settle suit

SEC SETTLES SUIT: The Securities and Exchange Commission is paying $580,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former assistant SEC inspector general who accused the agency of firing him in retaliation for bringing possible misconduct to light.

RAISED CONCERNS: The fired assistant inspector general, David Weber, had raised concerns about possible inappropriate relationships between the former SEC inspector general and women he worked with on investigations of the Ponzi schemes run by Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Weber also warned of a security flaw in some SEC computers that contained sensitive stock-exchange data.

REVIEW BY ANOTHER IG: A report by the U.S. Postal Service's inspector general, provided to the SEC in September, substantiated some of Weber's allegations.