Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Fri, Mar 27 1992 Date: Fri, 27 Mar 92 05:43:21 EST Message-ID: 03-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update March 27-29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SEC LOOKS AT TRADING ERROR: The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into a trading error made by Salomon Bros. Wednesday that resulted in a loss of more than 15 points in the Dow Jones industrial average. Salomon says it "made an error" executing a customer's program order. Allegedly, a clerk sold 11 million shares of stock (worth several hundred million dollars) - instead of $11 million worth of shares. SALOMON NOTIFIES SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard Breeden says his agency will examine a major trading error made by Salomon Bros. Wednesday, but added that at least "unlike some occasions in the past, the firm did promptly notify us." Salomon was sharply criticized for failing to disclose that it had improperly bid at Treasury auctions last year. FCC EXPECTS CABLE BILL PASSAGE: The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday he expects Congress to pass legislation to regulate cable television rates this year. Chairman Alfred Sikes says pressure from consumers upset with rate hikes will make passage of a bill likely this election year. Sikes wouldn't say whether President Bush would sign such a bill into law. REGULATORS URGE CAUTION: State regulators Thursday urged Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Richard Breeden to narrow proposals for lightening the regulatory burden on small firms trying to raise money through the stock market. The regulators fear that risks to small investors will be heightened if stock disclosure rules are eased. SUIT AGAINST FFMC DISMISSED: First Financial Management Corp. announced Thursday that a suit brought by two FFMC shareholders over the company's restatement of earnings was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs and their counsel. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, where the suit was filed as a class action, Thursday issued an order approving the dismissal without prejudice. TIMBER THEFT TASK FORCE FORMED: The Forest Service confirmed Thursday that it has created an investigative task force due to concerns over the theft of timber off public land. The challenge facing the task force is a big one. Former head of the service's whistleblower's office, John McCormick, estimates that tens of millions of dollars worth of publicly owned timber a year may be stolen or lost to fraud. RULINGS THREATEN TRADE: Recent rulings made in the USA have increased trade tensions with Canada, and could threaten trade relations. Rulings that imposed new duties on Canada's largest export, softwood, and on Canadian-made Hondas have led to proposals in Canada's parliament to respond with new taxes on California wine or on U.S. goods shipped on heavily subsidized U.S. waterways. R.I. TV HEARINGS LAUNCHED: A Rhode Island state commission has launched televised hearings into a credit union scandal that led to the closing of privately-insured credit unions and the freezing of $1 billion in deposits last year. Commission lawyers and auditors say Rhode Island Central Credit Union and Marquette Credit Union forged documents, paid kickbacks and inflated appraisals, among other things. NIPPON STOCK MAY BE OPEN: Japan plans to lift a ban on foreigners owning stock in communications giant, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph. Officials expect Japan's Cabinet Friday to approve a bill that would allow foreigners to own up to 20% in NTT, Japan's largest company. G-P TO PAY $9 MILLION: Nearly 15,000 people in New Orleans have claimed damage from a 1981 phenol spill that tainted drinking water from the Mississippi River, records show. Georgia-Pacific Corp. has agreed to pay a $9 million settlement for the spill, though it denied any wrongdoing at its plant near Plaquemine, La. NRC PROPOSES $100,000 FINE: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $100,000 civil penalty against Carolina Power & Light Co. for inadequate maintenance in cleaning an emergency generator at its Brunswick, N.C., nuclear plant, officials said Thursday. Carolina Power & Light doesn't plan to contest the proposed penalty, a spokeswoman said. CONFLICT-OF INTEREST CITED: Bill Honig, head of California's school system, expects to be charged Friday for allegedly misusing $222,590 in federal funds. Honig says a grand jury Tuesday indicted him on conflict-of-interest. Cited: Professional relationship between schools and his wife's consulting firm. Said Honig: "It's a phony charge. It's politics at its worst." Business Law Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM