BUSINESS BRIEFING / SECURITIES

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., maker of the Grand Theft Auto video games, has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit in which the Securities and Exchange Commission accused it of improperly backdating stock options.

The settlement still needs approval in federal court in New York, where Take-Two was sued Wednesday by the SEC, the game maker said in a statement. Former Chief Executive Ryan Brant pleaded guilty in 2007 in a related criminal case.

The SEC alleged that Brant, who wasn’t sued, and other former senior executives fraudulently enriched key employees by granting them stock options backdated to days of historically low closing prices, and then failing to disclose it. Brant pleaded guilty to falsifying records and was sentenced to five years’ probation.