FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  97-69


SEC Chairman Levitt Praises ABA for Formally Denouncing Pay-
                           to-Play
                              
            State by State Effort Begins Tomorrow


     San Francisco, CA, August 6, 1997 --  In response to
today's vote by the American Bar Association House of
Delegates approving a resolution condemning pay-to-play by
lawyers, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur
Levitt issued the following statement:

"I applaud the bar today for taking an important step in the
right direction by condemning pay-to-play.  Tomorrow we'll
begin a national campaign against pay-to-play by working in
every state to convince state and local bar associations to
eliminate this odious practice.  We'll look to New York
state, where this initiative began, to be the first to
answer the call and bring pay-to-play to an end.

"The true test of the ABA's resolve to end pay-to-play will
be the commitment of those appointed to the task force, the
strength of the solutions they develop, and whether those
solutions are adopted by the ABA next year.

"Today's action is a victory for market integrity, for our
country's investors, and for the many honest and hard
working municipal bond lawyers.  Michael Cardozo and the
City Bar should be especially proud for having carried the
banner of integrity through storms of opposition.  Thanks
also to Judge William Webster, former Attorney General
Elliot Richardson and Chancellor William Allen for their
dedicated and successful efforts to call attention to this
issue."


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