WASHINGTON (AP) — A hedge fund and its owner will pay $2.2 million to settle federal charges that the firm set up trades that represented a conflict of interest and then retaliated against a high-ranking employee who reported the conduct to regulators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Monday with Paradigm Capital Management of Albany, New York, and its owner, Candace King Weir. The SEC said it’s the agency’s first case to protect a whistleblower under the new anti-retaliation authority granted by the 2010 financial overhaul law.