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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Freedom Fighter who wrote (1106)	1/7/1999 8:16:00 AM
From: bill meehan	Respond to of 1722

Abby cut equity allocation by 2% this morning. That's having a bigger impact than Alice Rivlin's comments.

To: Freedom Fighter who wrote (1106)	1/12/1999 2:05:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Respond to of 1722

SEC to fine 28 of the usual suspects -- NYTimes "S.E.C. Fines 28 Wall Street Firms $26 Million" By KENNETH N. GILPIN -- January 12, 1999 NEW YORK -- The Securities and Exchange Commission fined 28 Wall Street firms more than $26 million and suspended 51 traders Monday for reputed abuses on the Nasdaq stock market, ending an investigation that began in 1994. Settlement negotiations between the SEC and the brokerage firms have been going on for months. While accepting the sanctions and the penalties, neither the firms nor the traders admitted or denied wrongdoing. In addition to payment of $26.3 million in penalties, the firms will repay more than $791,000 in gains. Traders named in the settlement face suspensions of anywhere from one month to three years. The settlement also requires the firms to improve trading policies and procedures, SEC officials said. The agreement involves many of Wall Street's biggest, most respected firms, but the monetary penalties imposed were not uniform. Eight firms, led by Paine Webber Inc. and UBS Securities, were fined more than $1 million. Paine Webber was fined the most, $6.3 million. UBS, now Warburg Dillon Read, was fined $3.5 million. John Coffee, a professor at the Columbia University Law School who specializes in securities law, said that in negotiating the settlement, Wall Street "wanted to use a kind of market share formula," determined by how much trading each firm did on the Nasdaq system. In essence, Wall Street argued that to a greater or lesser degree all firms were guilty of abuses. "That has not happened," Coffee said. "This settlement is a little bit harsher than the industry wanted or thought they were going to get away with, particularly as it relates to individuals." By meting out suspensions, Coffee said, the SEC is telling traders "if you engage in conduct that injures investors, it won't just be the firm that suffers, but also your job and career at the firm." Paul Gerlach, associate director of the enforcement division at the SEC, said: "Our investigation established that not everyone did it. There are more than 28 market-making firms in the Nasdaq marketplace, and the extent of wrongdoing varied tremendously." Paine Webber said: "This is the final resolution of a matter that occurred more than four years ago. Paine Webber cooperated fully with regulators and has instituted policies and procedures to address the issues raised in their investigation." The case began in 1994, when the SEC and the Justice Department accused major dealers on the electronic Nasdaq market of conspiring in a form of price fixing that cost ordinary investors billions of dollars on their stock trades. Those accusations led some investors to file a class-action lawsuit against the Wall Street firms. Last year the group settled with 30 firms for $910 million, the largest settlement ever for such a civil suit. In 1996, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the National Association of Securities Dealers, the self-policing body that operates the Nasdaq market, settled with the SEC The SEC censured the dealers group, saying it broke federal securities laws and its own rules in failing to enforce rules on the Nasdaq. As part of that settlement agreement, the Nasdaq agreed to spend $100 million over five years to improve market surveillance. Nasdaq officials declined to comment on Monday's settlement. Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company