FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  98-66


 Valerie Caproni Named Head of the SEC's Pacific Regional Office

     Washington, D.C., July 23, 1998 -- Securities and Exchange
Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt announced today the selection
of Valerie Caproni as Regional Director of the Commission's
Pacific Regional Office.  Ms. Caproni, 42, succeeds Elaine
Cacheris.  Ms. Caproni comes to the Commission from the U.S.
Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York where she
currently serves as Chief of the Criminal Division.  Ms. Caproni
will assume her new post at the beginning of September 1998.

     Chairman Levitt said, "I am very pleased that Valerie
Caproni has agreed to serve as Director of our Pacific Regional
Office.  Her considerable experience as a prosecutor of white
collar crime will bolster our efforts as we work with the
criminal authorities to fight securities fraud.  The Commission
will benefit from her considerable legal skills, intelligence,
and experience.  On behalf of the Commission I welcome her to our
team and I look forward to working with her."

     Richard H. Walker, the Director of the Division of
Enforcement, said, "The Regional Offices are instrumental in
carrying out the Commission's oversight and regulatory duties.
Valerie's leadership will help us effectively achieve those goals
in an especially important part of the country."

     The Pacific region comprises offices in Los Angeles and San
Francisco, California, and has both enforcement and regulatory
programs in a nine state area.  Ms. Caproni will oversee these
activities as they are conducted throughout the region.

     Ms. Caproni began her legal career as a law clerk to the
Hon. Phyllis Kravitch, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals,
Atlanta, Georgia, before becoming a litigation associate at
Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.  After five years at
Cravath, she joined the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's
Office in the Eastern District of New York where she worked for
three and a half years.  Ms. Caproni left that position in 1989,
at which time she was appointed the Senior Vice President and
General Counsel of the New York State Urban Development
Corporation (UDC).  Her primary responsibilities included
advising the Directors of the UDC on issues arising from bond
offerings, economic and real estate development activities, and
litigation.

     In 1992, Ms. Caproni returned to the U.S. Attorney's Office
in the Eastern District of New York where she served as Chief of
the Special Prosecutions Section, Chief of the Organized Crime
and Racketeering Section and, in 1994, assumed her present
position as Chief of the Criminal Division.  Ms. Caproni has won
several awards from the Justice Department, including the
Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service in 1997.

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