FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  97-24



           MARY JO WHITE TO LEAVE SEC TO JOIN LAW FIRM
  DEPUTY DIRECTOR GOLDEN TO SERVE AS ACTING MUNICIPAL OMBUDSMAN



     Washington D.C., March 25, 1997 -  The Securities and Exchange
Commission today announced that Mary Jo White, Attorney Fellow and
Ombudsman in the Office of Municipal Securities will leave the
Commission to join Long Aldrige Norman, as a partner in the firm's
Washington, D.C. office beginning June 1, 1997, practicing with its
Corporate and Government Finance Group.  

     Susan M. Golden, Deputy Director of the Office, will
temporarily serve as Acting Ombudsman within the Office of
Municipal Securities.  Charlotte Buford, an Attorney in the Office
of Municipal Securities, will continue to assist the Ombudsman.

     Ms. White joined the SEC in August, 1995 and was designated
Ombudsman in the Office of Municipal Securities in June of 1996. 
Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. White was a partner in the
Richmond office of Hunton & Williams.

     The Ombudsman position was created by Chairman Arthur Levitt
as part of the Commission's overall effort to work with issuers of
municipal securities to improve practices in the municipal market. 
The Ombudsman provides the nation's municipal bond issuers with a
point of contact and ready access to the Commission and a means of
obtaining general information about the Commission and its
initiatives affecting municipal issuers.  

     Chairman Levitt said, "Mary Jo's expertise in municipal
securities and her hard work in establishing the position of
Ombudsman have been of great benefit to the Commission and to our
efforts to reform the municipal securities markets.  We are
fortunate to attract such outstanding lawyers as Mary Jo to the
Commission for a short time through our attorney fellow program,
unfortunately their time with us is limited.  Her contributions
will be remembered and she will be missed."
  
     Ms. Golden and Ms. Buford can be reached at the Office of
Municipal Securities at (202) 942-7300, or by facsimile at (202)
942-9642.  They also can be reached via the Commission's web site
at www.sec.gov.

                              # # #