Fresh probe dogs Hurd

Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate insider information accusation

Just when Oracle's co-president Mark Hurd may have been tempted to think the controversy over his departure from HP last September had died down, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to launch a fresh investigation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the broad-based probe includes looking into an accusation that Hurd passed insider information - specifically about HP's purchase of EDS - to Jodie Fisher, the HP events organiser whose accusation of sexual impropriety led to Hurd's messy exit from the company.

Whether the investigation will lead to a case being brought by the SEC is as yet unknown. But Hurd has already acquired the services of Daniel Bookin, a lawyer from O'Melveny and Myers LLP, who specialises in defending white-collar criminal cases, says the WSJ's sources.

Hurd has always denied having an inappropriate relationship with Fisher.