Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Fri, Jun 5 1992 Date: Fri, 5 Jun 92 05:20:08 EDT Message-ID: 06-05 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update June 5-7, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SEVEN CHARGED IN SEC SCANDAL: The Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday charged seven prominent financial figures with making millions by trading on non-public tips in one of the biggest insider trading cases ever. The SEC says the men made at least $13 million on the scheme from 1987 to 1989. The case centers on Edward Downe Jr., an ex-Bear Stearns executive. Downe allegedly exchanged information with friends. FIRE VIOLATIONS WERE MADE KNOWN: Detroit officials had repeatedly alerted state officials to major safety violations at the rooming house where 10 people died in a fire this week, according to city documents. But inspection reports released Wednesday show that the Department of Social Services apparently did not respond to inspection records forwarded to the agency. (For more, see special Fire package below.) COURT UPHOLDS KU JUDGMENT: The Kentucky Supreme Court Thursday upheld the trial court judgment in the litigation between KU and former coal supplier South East Coal Co. The judgment awards substantial price reductions to KU under the parties' contract. That will mean about $68 million in lower fuel costs for KU's more than 400,000 customers in the state. About $25 million has been passed on. CWA WON'T STRIKE AT ONCE: Communications Workers of America said Thursday it won't immediately strike against AT&T in its contract dispute. But it will use other methods to pressure the company to meet union demands. CWA President Morton Bahr said the union reserved the option of striking. For now, they'll try having union members and small business switch to other long-distance phone companies. CHIP SALE AGREEMENT REACHED: Japanese and U.S. industry officials Thursday announced an agreement to boost sales of U.S. computer chips in Japan. The move is designed to ease rising trade tensions over semiconductors. Japan's top 10 semiconductor users said they'd use emergency measures to dramatically increase purchases of foreign semiconductors the next six months. REVCO CHAIRMAN FIRED: The chairman of the Revco D.S. Inc. drug store chain was fired by new directors over policy differences, the company said Thursday. Boake Sells led the chain through four years of bankruptcy court proceedings. He had been chairman since October 1987. Sells, 54, was ousted by the board that took office Monday when Revco emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. APPRAISAL PLAN SPURS SUIT: The Appraisal Institute is preparing to sue regulators over a two-tier proposal for real-estate transactions. Transactions worth more than $100,000 will have to be valued by certified or licensed appraisers. Smaller deals won't require a certified appraiser. The current ceiling is $50,000. Congress sought better training for appraisers as part of the 1989 Savings-and-Loan bailout law. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS RISE: The number of new people filing for unemployment benefits edged up 4,000 to 407,000 the week ended May 23, the Labor Department says in a report out Friday. Though the rise was slightly higher than analysts expected, the less volatile four week average of claims fell for the second week in a row to 410,750 from 412,500. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits: 3.3 million. STANHOME TO PAY BACK TAXES: Stanhome Inc.'s Italian subsidiary, Stanhome S.P.A., has decided to settle tax assessments from the Italian government, it was reported Thursday. Assessment for additional taxes for 1984 through 1989 is about $57 million, plus substantial penalties and interest. The government has a tax amnesty program in place. Under it, Stanhome will pay about $12 million, without penalties or interest. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FIRE: DSS HAD COURT ORDER IN 1979: A spokesman for Michigan's attorney general said Thursday that the Department of Social Services in 1979 won a court order to have the adult foster care facility in Detroit, where 10 died this week in a fire, cease operating. But the spokesman said it was the agency's responsibility to let the attorney general know the home still was operating. HOME COULD HAVE BEEN CLOSED: The state could have brought contempt charges that would have closed the nursing home had the attorney general been alerted to its operation after the court order, said the attorney general's spokesman. A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services said the agency is reviewing its response. A 1988 Detroit city building inspection of the Nu-Way Development Center found 20 violations. INSPECTIONS WERE REQUIRED: Even though city ordinances called for annual fire and building inspections, the house apparently had not been inspected by building authorities since 1988. It did receive regular fire checks from the city fire marshal. The home was cited for numerous building code violations in 1988 and fire violations each year between 1987 and 1990. DSS was told of fire violations in May 1990. (End of package.) Business Law Editor: Beth Mann. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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