In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive has indicated that it received a "Wells" call on August 9 from the Staff of the Division of Enforcement.

The call concerned the company's historical stock options granting practices. SEC's Staff informed Take-Two that it "intends to seek authority from the Commission to file charges in connection with its investigation, and that it also intends to seek authority from the Commission to seek a civil monetary penalty."

Take-Two announced in April of this year that the company was formally being investigated by the SEC. Prior to that, Take-Two had conducted its own internal investigation into its stock options practices and found that a significant amount of backdating had occurred over a period of six or so years.

Eventually former CEO Ryan Brant pled guilty and had to pay $7.3 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties. And just last month, two more former Take-Two executives also pled guilty: former accounting officer, Patti P. Tay and former general counsel, Kenneth I. Selterman.

As for the Wells notice, it gives Take-Two a final chance to respond to the SEC and convince the Commission not to file charges. In the SEC filing, Take-Two said it "continues to cooperate with the Staff and continues to expect to resolve this investigation by means of a settlement rather than a contested litigation of charges, and believes that the 'Wells' call represents a significant step forward towards that resolution."

Dozens, if not hundreds of other companies have been investigated over the last year by the SEC, including other publishers such as THQ, Activision and EA. That said, those three companies never had to deal with a formal investigation or a Wells notice.

Shares of Take-Two closed down 88 cents (6.5 percent) to $12.60 Wednesday. Moreover, the company's stock has fallen almost 32 percent in the last three months primarily because of the "temporary suspension" of Manhunt 2 following an AO rating and more recently the delay of GTA IV.