Cablevision settles options practices lawsuits

Under terms of the agreement, certain present and former directors and executives will pay Cablevision $24.4 million. Additionally, Cablevision's liability insurer has agreed to pay the New York-based company $10 million.

Cablevision has agreed to adopt corporate governance changes relating to stock-based compensation.

None of the current or former officers, directors or other defendants who entered into the agreement has acknowledged any liability or wrongdoing, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In August 2006 Cablevision said it was making a voluntary review of its stock options practices after several other companies reported issues with the timing and pricing of stock options. The following month, Cablevision disclosed that it had granted stock options to a vice chairman after he died and set the date of the option to when he was still alive.

Stock options give holders the right to buy stock at a certain price and are often used as a form of compensation for executives. Many problems with stock options stem from a practice called backdating, under which awards are made more lucrative for the holder by assigning an earlier date to the grant at which the stock's price was lower.