UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                                                  Before the 
                                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Release No. 38518 / April 17, 1997

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-9205

______________________________
In the Matter of             :                              
                             :    ORDER MAKING FINDINGS
PETER M. HARRINGTON          :    AND IMPOSING REMEDIAL
                             :    SANCTIONS BY DEFAULT
_____________________________:_

         Respondent Peter M. Harrington is in default under the
Securities and Exchange Commissionþs (þCommissionþ) Rules of
Practice, Rules 155(a)(2) and 220(f), 17 C.F.R.  201.155(a)(2),
.220(f) (1996), because he failed to answer the Order Instituting
Proceedings (þOIPþ) which the Commission issued on December 18,
1996.  He also failed to respond to the show cause order I issued
on January 16, 1997.

         Accordingly, I find that the allegations in the OIP are
true:

         A.      Mr. Harrington, age 51, had his last known residence in
         East Aurora, New York.  He was a registered representative
         with various broker-dealers since 1977 and, from June 1987
         through July 1995, was the president and sole owner of
         Harrington Securities Corporation ("HSC").  On September 27,
         1996, Mr. Harrington pled guilty to a 41 count indictment
         issued by the Erie County District Attorney's Office.  

         B.      On October 3, 1996, a Default Judgment was entered
         against Mr. Harrington, by the Honorable Richard J. Arcara,
         United States District Court Judge for the Western District
         of New York, which enjoins Mr. Harrington from future
         violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933
         and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
         (þExchange Actþ) and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.  Mr. Harrington
         was also ordered to pay disgorgement of $933,188.28,
         prejudgment interest in the amount of $99,633.63, and a
         civil penalty of $100,000.  SEC v. Peter M. Harrington, Civ.
         96-0079(A) (W.D.N.Y. 1996).

         C.      The complaint in the above cited action alleged that,
         from at least March 1991 through June 1995, Mr. Harrington,
         the president and sole owner of HSC, a registered broker-
         dealer, misappropriated at least $982,992.83 from eighteen
         of his customers by using an elaborate scheme involving,
         among other things, material misrepresentations, forged
         endorsement signatures on clearing firm checks, and
         fabricated confirmation statements.  To induce investors to
         invest with him, Mr. Harrington falsely told investors that
         he would invest their funds in certificates of deposit
         ("CDs") issued by various banks.  He falsely represented
         that the CDs paid 10% interest; were insured by the Federal
         Deposit Insurance Corporation; and were completely riskless
         investments.  However, Mr. Harrington never purchased CDs
         for his customers with the funds which they entrusted to him
         for that purpose.  Instead of investing these customers'
         funds in CDs, Mr. Harrington deposited his customers' funds
         into several of his personal bank accounts.  Furthermore, to
         conceal the misappropriation of his customers' funds, Mr.
         Harrington prepared and mailed letters to the customers
         titled "Confirmation," which purported to confirm that funds
         remitted by the customers had been invested in CDs.  In
         addition, Mr. Harrington, without his customers' knowledge,
         consent, or authorization, placed orders to sell the
         securities of his customers being held in their HSC
         brokerage accounts.  Mr. Harrington misappropriated the
         proceeds from the unauthorized sales of these customers'
         securities by forging the customers' signatures on the
         proceeds checks and then depositing these checks into his
         personal bank accounts.

         I find further that it is in the public interest to bar Mr.                                          
Harrington from association with any broker, dealer, national
securities exchange, or registered securities association,
pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 19(h) of the Exchange Act.

         Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
15(b) and 19(h) of the Exchange Act, Peter M. Harrington is
barred from association with any broker, dealer, national
securities exchange, or registered securities association.



                                                   ____________________________
                                                   Lillian A. McEwen
                                                   Administrative Law Judge