VMware is paying $8 million in fines tied to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into the vendor’s public filings for its 2019 and 2020 fiscal years.

The vendor said it reached the settlement “without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. … The SEC’s findings do not include any findings that the company failed to comply with general accepted accounting principles.”

It added that the SEC staff does not intend to target any current or former VMware employees with any additional enforcement action.

“VMware believes this settlement is the right course of action for the company and continues to be committed to operating at the highest level of integrity, including with respect to its public filings and communications with investors,” the company noted in its statement.

The investigation was initially announced in early 2020 as part of VMware’s fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2020 earnings. The SEC at that time had “requested documents and information related to VMware’s backlog and associated accounting and disclosures” for the previous two years of the vendor’s public filings.

Pat Gelsinger was CEO at VMware during that time before leaving for Intel in early 2021. Gelsinger’s departure was one of a handful from top VMware executives during that time.

Current VMware CFO Zane Rowe held the top financing position at the vendor during the years being investigated.

The settlement comes as VMware is in the process of being acquired by chip giant Broadcom for $69 billion. That controversial deal hung over the recent VMware Explore 2022 event. It’s still in its early phases and is scheduled to close by the end of Broadcom’s 2023 fiscal year, which is Oct. 31, 2023.