SHAD SEES PROGRESS ON INSIDER TRADING

  Securities and Exchange Commission
  chairman John Shad said progress was being made in stopping
  insider trading, but the chairman of a House subcommittee with
  jurisdiction over securities laws said he was concerned about
  conditions on Wall Street.
      "Greed has created a feeding frenzy on Wall Street and in
  the process laws are broken and multi-billion dlr corporations
  have become easy prey," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, the
  chairman of the Telecommunications and Finance said at the
  start of a hearing on SEC activities.
      "Congress is understandably nervous. We perceive the
  current scandals as a warning of even worse things to come,"
  Markey said. "The frenzy and disruption created by merger mania
  is particularly distressing."
      Shad said the recent cases involving Ivan Boesky, Dennis
  Levine and others was a warning that those who engage in
  insider trading were taking a heavy risk of imprisonment, high
  fines and disbarment from the securities industry.
      "Insider trading has not been eradicated, but it has been
  inhibited and multimillions of dollars of profits that Boesky
  and others have been siphoning off the markets are now flowing
  through to legitimate investors and traders," Shad said in his
  statement.
      Shad said insider trading cases involved only 10 pct or
  less of SEC enforcement actions in recent years but they have
  increased significantly to 125 cases brought during the past
  five years compared to 77 cases in the preceeding 47 years.
      Markey said he did not favor banning takeovers but thought
  the tender offer process needed reform including earlier
  disclosure of takeover attempts.
      N.J. Rep. Mathew Rinaldo, the senior subcommittee
  Republican, said he was introducing legislation to create a
  five member commission to study the securities industry for a
  year and report its findings and recommendations to Congress.
  Commission members would be appointed by the SEC.
      "Its primary mission would be to analyze the extent of
  illegal trading on insider trading and to assess the adequacy
  of existing surveillance systems and government oversight
  operations. The commission would advise Congress as to what
  additional resources or civil or criminal remedies are needed
  to combat fraud and improve compliance with federal laws,"
  Rinaldo said.
  

