The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $24 million settlement with a former Dow Jones & Company board member and three other Hong Kong residents accused of illegal tipping and insider trading ahead of news of an unsolicited buyout offer from News Corp. that sent Dow Jones shares soaring last spring.

The SEC’s complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges that David Li Kwok Po, a Dow Jones board member at the time who also is chairman and CEO of the Bank of East Asia, learned of the then-secret News Corp. offer and illegally tipped his close friend Michael Leung Kai Hung.

The SEC complaint also alleges that Leung, with the help of his daughter Charlotte Ka On Wong Leung and son-in-law Kan King Wong purchased approximately $15 million worth of Dow Jones securities in their account at Merrill Lynch. They stood to make approximately $8 million in illicit profits had the SEC not won an emergency court order within days of the News Corp. offer, freezing the account.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Li, Leung, and the Wongs consented to the entry of court orders enjoining them from violations of securities rules. Li and Leung were both ordered to pay $8.1 million civil penalties. K.K. Wong is ordered to pay $40,000 in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest and a $40,000 civil penalty.

“Protecting the integrity of our markets in today’s world of global trading and instant communications requires real-time enforcement across national borders,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “This case makes clear that the SEC will move fast, and decisively, not only in the United States but around the world to protect investors from insider dealings and threats to fair and open markets. It also illustrates the value of the significant international partnerships we are developing with our regulatory partners in other nations.”