Bear Stearns Says SEC Weighs Charges

Updated from 11:12 a.m. EDT

Bear Stearns(BSC Quote), the 81-year-old brokerage whose massive clearing operation provides a crucial backbone for Wall Street, is on the verge of being charged by government investigators with helping to facilitate the illicit strategies at the heart of the mutual fund trading scandal.

Bear Stearns said Wednesday that regulators in the Securities and Exchange Commission's New York office are considering a civil action or cease-and-desist order against the firm and its clearing subsidiary. Bear would be the first major Wall Street brokerage to be sanctioned in the nearly year-old mutual fund scandal.

The company currently is in talks with regulators about a possible settlement, but no deal is imminent, people with knowledge of the situation told TheStreet.com. A Bear Stearns spokeswoman could not be reached for comment. ...