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.