For immediate release                                  98-36

           CHAIRMAN LEVITT APPOINTS RICHARD WALKER AS
              DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION ENFORCEMENT

     Washington, DC, April 8, 1998 -- Securities and Exchange
Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt today appointed Richard H.
Walker as Director of the Division of Enforcement.  Mr. Walker
succeeds William McLucas, who has served as director since
December 1989.

     Mr. Walker joined the Commission in 1991 and has served as
General Counsel for the past two years.  Prior to that, he was
the Director of the Commission's Northeast Regional Office for
four years.  As General Counsel, Mr. Walker helped coordinate the
government's successful appeal to the Supreme Court in United
States v. O'Hagan, which upheld the misappropriation theory of
insider trading.  In addition, he oversaw the preparation of a
report to the President and the Congress on the impact of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
     
     As director of the Commission's largest region, with offices
in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, Mr. Walker supervised
numerous important investigations and prosecutions, including
ground breaking insider trading and municipal securities cases,
and cases involving the fraudulent sale of securities by Towers
Financial Corporation, The Foundation for New Era Philanthropy
and Bennett Funding Corporation.  He also was instrumental in
supporting the United States Attorney for the Southern District
of New York and the F.B.I. in a sting operation that netted 45
arrests in October of 1996 and has resulted in 30 Commission
enforcement actions to date.

     Chairman Levitt said, "Dick Walker represents a great
combination of `outside' experience and `inside' knowledge.  In
private as well as public service, Dick has demonstrated his good
judgment, extraordinary intelligence and deep dedication to
investor protection.  Dick's talent as a litigator, and as a
prosecutor, are remarkable.  Throughout his service at the
Commission, Dick has provided the most trusted and sage counsel
to me and my fellow Commissioners."

     Mr. Walker received the Presidential Rank Distinguished
Service Award in 1997 , the highest federal award for government
service.  He also received the Commission's Law and Policy Award
in 1997 for his participation in O'Hagan.  In 1997, he received
the Chairman's Award for Excellence.

     Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Walker was a litigation
partner for fifteen years in the New York office of Cadwalader,
Wickersham & Taft.  From 1975 to 1976, Mr. Walker served as law
clerk to the Honorable Collins J. Seitz, former Chief Judge of
the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  Mr.
Walker is a 1972 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Trinity College and a
1975 graduate, cum laude, of Temple Law School, where he served
as Editor-in-Chief of the Temple Law Quarterly.

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