By Ulrike Dauer

German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) said late Wednesday that it has agreed to pay a fine of EUR10.5 million ($12.5 million) related to alleged insider trading by its chief executive and alleged violation of market-disclosure rules.

Deutsche Boerse said it accepted the fine, although it "continues to believe the allegations are unfounded in all respects."

The fine was proposed by a Frankfurt prosecutor as a condition of terminating an investigation concerning Deutsche Boerse CEO Carsten Kengeter and alleged insider trading a few weeks before merger plans with London Stock Exchange (LSE.LN)were announced.

Part of the fine also relates to an alleged failure to publish an ad-hoc announcement in January 2016 regarding the merger talks with LSE.

A Frankfurt court still has to approve the deal.

Mr. Kengeter bought 60,000 Deutsche Boerse shares worth a total of EUR4.5 million on Dec. 14., 2015, according to an official market-disclosure note.

The merger plans with LSE were announced on Feb. 23, 2016.

Deutsche Boerse also said it will only decide whether or not to extend Mr. Kengeter's CEO contract after German prosecutors and exchange supervisors have ended their respective investigations. Mr. Kengeter's current contract ends in March 2018.

Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2017 03:06 ET (07:06 GMT)