Washington - Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed by the SEC to give a deposition in a lawsuit related to the company's stock options granting practices, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Jobs's testimony is sought in the SEC's suit against former Apple general counsel Nancy Heinin, who was charged with backdating stock option grants in a move that made them more valuable to Apple executives, including Jobs.

The lawsuit does not name Jobs as a defendant, but questions from both sides during his testimony could hope to show "that others in the company were approving and aware of the options," former SEC attorney Jahan Raissi told Bloomberg.

Apple said last year that Jobs recommended favorable dates on options other than his own, but in its internal investigation found that Jobs had committed no misconduct, and was not aware of the accounting implications of backdated options.

The company took an $84 million charge to account for the backdated options in December, including $20 million for those granted to Jobs himself.  

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http://tinyurl.com/29zwv2 (Bloomberg)