The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an
administrative action against high-profile hedge fund manager Steven Cohen,
accusing him of ignoring signs that should have alerted him to insider dealing
at his firm.

Regulators have moved to ban Cohen for life from the
industry, media reports said.

The SEC filed an administrative action against him Friday.
It marked the first time he was personally accused of wrongdoing in the
investigation, which has run for months.

Cohen faces a criminal insider-trading probe. The SEC has
not filed civil-fraud charges against him.

Mathew Martoma and Michael Steinberg, have pleaded not
guilty to insider dealing and are due to go on trial. Martoma is an SAC
ex-trader, and Steinberg is a current one. Two former SAC traders, Noah Freeman
and Donald Longueuil, have pleaded guilty.

Reports quoted a SAC spokesperson saying the SEC action had
no merit.

"Steve Cohen acted appropriately at all times and will
fight this charge vigorously," the spokesperson said, continuing that the
agency was ignoring the hedge-fund firm's "extensive compliance policies
and procedures."

SAC was set up in 1992; according to the Wall Street
Journal, it has consistently boasted some of the best returns in the $2.4
trillion hedge fund sector.