Waterloo, Canada - BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (NASD: RIMM) announced this week that it will pay $74.5 million to settle a stock options backdating charge from the Ontario Securities Commission.

A number of executives, including co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, and CFO Dennis Kavelman, will pay $31 million to defray the benefits they received from the unfairly increased value of their options.

They also will pay $36.4 million to reimburse costs associated with the company's internal investigation into the matter, and another $7.4 million in fines to the Ontario Securities Commission.

RIM and the executives involved have also made an offer to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) separate investigation into its stock option granting practices.

"RIM is pleased that the parties have resolved matters with the OSC and looks forward to resolving matters with the SEC," said RIM lead director John Richardson.

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http://press.rim.com/release.jsp?id=2026