WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have charged a former Goldman Sachs board member with insider trading, saying he provided confidential information to the central figure in a major hedge fund probe.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today the civil charges against Rajat Gupta.

The agency says Gupta gave Raj Rajaratnam, the head of hedge fund Galleon Group, confidential information about quarterly earnings of Goldman and Proctor & Gamble, where he had also been a board member.

The SEC says he also provided confidential information about Berkshire Hathaway’s planned $5 billion investment in Goldman to Rajaratnam.