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To: Jim McMannis who wrote (32798)	4/29/1999 10:34:00 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116958

o/t No dirt between market and government? HMMM Wednesday April 28, 8:28 pm Eastern Time Firm says probing Chicago treasurer payment CHICAGO, April 28 (Reuters) - Raymond James & Associates has launched an internal probe into an allegation that one of its brokers gave thousands of dollars in cash to Chicago's treasurer, a spokesman for the firm said Wednesday. Lawrence Silver, senior vice president and marketing director for the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based firm, said an investigation was underway to determine if anything improper occurred. The allegation was made last week during Treasurer Miriam Santos' federal district court trial on charges she attempted to extort campaign contributions from brokerage firms that did business with her office. According to a Chicago Tribune report, John Henry, Chicago's first deputy treasurer, testified that he had accepted cash on behalf of Santos' campaign from brokers working for Raymond James and for Dain Rauscher (DRC - news). In the case of the Raymond James broker, Henry testified that he was given thousands of dollars in cash on many occasions, according to the report. Silver said that such contributions were ''absolutely against'' the company's policies and procedures. As for Dain Rauscher, Henry said a broker at that firm gave him $7,500 in cash, as well as thousands of additional dollars dating back to 1995, the Tribune reported. A spokesman for Minneapolis-based Dain Rauscher declined to comment on the matter. Last January, federal prosecutors charged that Santos, Chicago's treasurer since 1989, allegedly blacklisted seven brokerage firms that refused to contribute to her 1998 campaign for Illinois attorney general and to the Democratic Party of Illinois. While Santos lost the attorney general's race to incumbent Republican Jim Ryan, she was reelected Chicago's treasurer earlier this year. If brokers made contributions to Santos it would unlikely be a violation of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's rule G-37, which bars bond dealers from making contributions to public officials who can influence the awarding of municipal bond business. As Chicago treasurer, Santos is not involved in bond firm selection, according to a city finance department official. However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to propose rules that would crack down on improper political contributions by firms managing public pension funds. Santos is a member of city pension boards. More Quotes and News: Dain Rauscher Corp (NYSE:DRC - news) Related News Categories: banking, US Market News biz.yahoo.com