Bear Stearns Expected to Settle

Bear Stearns Cos. is expected today to settle charges that it failed to properly report signs of fraud while processing stock trades, sources knowledgeable about the agreements said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan district attorney plan to announce settlements calling for tens of millions of dollars in payments. No indictments are expected, though the head of Bear Stearns’ clearing business, Richard Harriton, is expected to step down, the sources said.

The settlements would cap a two-year investigation by the agencies into Bear Stearns’ work in processing trades for the A.R. Baron & Co. brokerage, which ceased operations in 1996.

Bear Stearns, expected to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing, has said it wasn’t aware of any manipulation by Baron.