Stewart Says She’s Close to Settlement With SEC

Martha Stewart said Wednesday that she believed she was close to settling an insider-trading lawsuit brought against her by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

During a segment on NBC Universal’s “Today” show Wednesday, Stewart said, “I think we’re close to a happy settlement,” in response to a question from one of the show’s hosts.

Stewart’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

A Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm whether a settlement was at hand, noting the New York-based company, which Stewart founded, isn’t a party in the lawsuit.

“We are confident that nothing about this civil litigation will prevent Martha from continuing to do all the wonderfully creative and inspirational things she currently does for the company and its customers,” Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said.

Fighting the charges would give Stewart the chance to reclaim her chief executive and chairwoman titles, but some legal experts have said it might be in Stewart’s interest to settle, because she still has been able to wield significant influence over her multimedia empire.

A spokesman for the SEC declined to say Wednesday whether a settlement was close at hand.

“We are prepared to present our case, but generally we consider settlement offers so long as they are consistent with investor protection,” said John Nester, an SEC spokesman.

Stewart and her Merrill Lynch & Co. stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, were convicted in March 2004 of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and other charges related to her controversial 2001 sale of shares of biotech concern ImClone Systems Inc. They both were sentenced to five months in prison, five months of home detention and two years of supervised release.

A federal appeals court upheld their convictions in January.

On May 25, in an 11-page response to the SEC complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Stewart denied allegations that she sold 3,928 shares of ImClone stock based on “material, nonpublic information.” Instead, she said she “acted in good faith.”