Briefly

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether insiders had confidential information when they bought Placer Dome Inc. securities days before Barrick Gold Corp. made an unsolicited $9.2-billion bid for the company.

The SEC asked a federal judge in New York on Thursday to bar unknown investors from selling $1.9 million of Placer Dome call options that they bought last week. A call option gives the holder the right to buy shares of a stock at a specific price within a given time.

Shares in Vancouver, Canada-based Placer Dome jumped more than 20% after Toronto-based Barrick Gold made its unsolicited $9.2-billion bid Monday.

The SEC said the options were acquired Oct. 25 and 26.