Navistar to pay $7.5m fine for misleading investors

Navistar International Corp will pay $7.5 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission complains about the company’s claim to investors that it had developed an engine that could be certified to meet US emission standards, the SEC announced Thursday.

The Lisle, Illinois-based truckmaker did not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The SEC also charged former Navistar CEO Daniel C. Ustian with misleading investors and with aiding and abetting violations by the company. In a filing in US District Court in Chicago, the SEC alleged that Ustian failed to fully disclose the company’s difficulties obtaining Environmental Protection Agency certification of a truck engine able to meet stricter Clean Air Act standards that took effect in 2010.

“When public companies and top executives discuss important regulatory developments with investors, they must tell the whole truth,” said SEC director of enforcement Andrew J. Ceresney. “Here, we allege that Navistar and its former CEO misled investors about their dealings with the EPA and the likely approval of its new emissions technology.”

Navistar spokeswoman Lyndi McMillan said the company believed a settlement was in the best interests of Navistar and its stockholders. (AP)