NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Bernard Madoff reached a partial settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, promising not to contest claims his New York investment-advisory firm was a fraud, the agency said yesterday.

Accusations in the SEC's December 11 civil lawsuit are deemed "established and cannot be contested by Madoff" when financial sanctions are set, the agency said in describing the agreement on its Web site. Madoff, 70, didn't admit or deny wrongdoing under the accord, it said.

The SEC sued Madoff on December 11, asking a court to make him pay unspecified fines and forfeit profits after he allegedly admitted his investment advisory firm was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. In such frauds, existing investors are typically paid purported gains with money invested by newer participants.

The agreement also extends an asset freeze and makes permanent a December order barring Madoff from future violations of laws against securities fraud, the SEC said.

US District Judge Louis Stanton in New York, who is presiding over the SEC's lawsuit, must approve the partial settlement and set a date to determine amounts for sanctions. That issue may by resolved after the completion of Madoff's criminal case in Manhattan federal court.

In the criminal case, Madoff is scheduled to appear for a hearing on February 11. Prosecutors must show why he was arrested in December. The appearance may be postponed, or cancelled if Madoff is formally indicted, said Ira Sorkin, his defence attorney, in an interview. Such hearings are rare, and Sorkin wouldn't say whether he expects it to take place.