Los Angeles ? Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo has agreed to a $67.5 million settlement to avoid trial on civil fraud and insider trading charges that alleged he profited from doling out risky mortgages while misleading investors about the risks.

Two other former Countrywide executives also settled before trial next week on charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. But employment agreements that protect the men from lawsuits involving the failed lender mean Bank of America Corp., which bought Countrywide in July 2008, will pick up most of the tab.

The settlement announced Friday spares the executives the risk of a guilty verdict that could have been used against them in lawsuits by shareholders, or by prosecutors if a criminal probe into their activities leads to charges.

It also gives the SEC the right to brag about what it said is the biggest financial penalty ever against a public company’s senior executive. The agency has been criticized for doing little to prevent much of the risky behavior that led to the financial meltdown and for failing to detect Bernard Madoff’s massive investment fraud.

“This settlement is a desirable result for all the parties,” said Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC enforcement attorney now in private practice. “The SEC claims victory. The defendants get closure while preserving their ability to fight” lawsuits by shareholders.

The agreement requires Mozilo to repay $45 million in ill-gotten profits and $22.5 million in civil penalties. Former Countrywide President David Sambol owes $5 million in profits and $520,000 in civil penalties, and former Chief Financial Officer Eric P. Sieracki will pay $130,000 in civil penalties.

It’s “the fitting outcome for a corporate executive who deliberately disregarded his duty to investors by hiding what he saw in the executive suite,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a conference call with reporters.

But $25 million of Mozilo’s restitution will come from an escrow fund the company set up to cover shareholder litigation and Mozilo has no obligation to pay the remaining amount, according to the settlement agreement.

Other notable business news:

Retail sales in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in September, easing concern consumer spending will weaken and endanger the recovery. Purchases rose 0.6 percent following a 0.7 percent gain in August that was larger than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. Other reports showed inflation cooled even further last month and manufacturing in the New York region accelerated.

• Google’s upbeat earnings report sent technology stocks higher Friday, while the rest of the stock market lagged on concerns about banks’ foreclosure problems. The tech-focused Nasdaq composite index rose more than 1 percent with a boost from Google Inc.’s 11 percent gain.