FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     99-103

  SEC Brings Additional Enforcement Actions Against Investment
       Advisers and Transfer Agents for Failing to Make 
               Required Year 2000 Disclosure

     Washington, DC, August 26, 1999 -- The Securities and
Exchange Commission today charged five investment advisers and
four transfer agents for failing to report to the Commission
concerning their Year 2000 preparedness.  Within the past year,
the Commission has filed actions charging a total of 37 broker-
dealers, 13 investment advisers and 15 transfer agents for
failing to report their Year 2000 preparedness.  No charges were
brought against broker-dealers today because they filed their BD-
Y2K forms as required.

     SEC Director of Enforcement Richard H. Walker said, "We
place great importance on full and fair Y2K disclosure by those
we regulate.  With only four months left to the millennium, it is
vital that both investors and regulators be given a current
report card by each firm as to their state of readiness.  We are
pleased that, with few exceptions, firms made the required
filings."

     The Commission instituted public administrative and cease-
and-desist proceedings against five investment advisers that
failed to timely file all or part of Form ADV-Y2K, which was due
on June 7, 1999.  Two of the five investment advisers, Amervest
Company, Inc., located in Los Angeles, California, and KMI Realty
Advisors, Inc., located in Indianapolis, Indiana, simultaneously
settled with the Commission by agreeing to the entry of an order
to cease and desist from further violations, be censured, and pay
a civil penalty of $22,500 and $15,000, respectively.  The other
three investment advisers charged by the Commission are
contesting the charges.  They are:  Huber Hogan Consulting, Inc.,
located in Red Bank, New Jersey; Russon Financial Services, Inc.,
located in Woodland Hills, California; and Robert Sears, located
in Northampton, Massachusetts.

     The Commission also instituted proceedings against two
transfer agents for failing to timely file an updated Form TA-
Y2K, which was due by April 30, 1999.  Those transfer agents are
Peachtree Stock Transfer and Robert J. Crain Jr., both located in
Memphis, Tennessee.  Finally, the Commission charged two
transfer agents, Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. ("Bassett"),
located in Bassett, Virginia, and Thermal Energy Storage, Inc.
("Thermal"), located in San Diego, California, with failing to
make the first filing of Form TA-Y2K, which was due by August 31,
1998.  Bassett and Thermal simultaneously settled the action by
agreeing to the entry of an order to cease and desist from
further violations and be censured.  Bassett agreed to pay a
civil penalty of $5,000.  No penalty was imposed against Thermal
based upon its demonstrated inability to pay.

     Today's actions against investment advisers and transfer
agents mark a continuation of the Commission's efforts to protect
investors by ensuring that securities industry participants fully
disclose their Year 2000 preparedness.  The Commission is using
the Y2K filings to obtain a more complete picture of the
securities industry's overall Year 2000 preparations and to
identify firm-specific and industry-wide problems.  By failing to
timely make the required filings, the five investment advisers
and four transfer agents failed to disclose to the Commission and
the investing public the steps, if any, they have taken to
address Year 2000 problems, including contingency plans.

     For the investment advisors and transfer agents that have
not settled with the Commission, hearings will be held to assess
the validity of the charges and determine if remedial sanctions
are appropriate and in the public interest.

     Broker-dealers were also required to file an updated Form BD-
Y2K no later than April 30, 1999.  As all broker-dealers made the
required filings, no actions have been brought against any broker-
dealers today.

     Issuers, their representatives, and investors are encouraged
to assess the Year 2000 readiness of firms in the securities
industry by reviewing their Y2K filings.  These filings may be
obtained either by calling the Commission's public reference room
at (202) 942-8090 or by accessing the Commission's web site at
http://www.sec.gov/news/y2k/y2kreps.htm.

     For further information regarding the Commission's action
against the five investment advisers, contact Valerie Caproni,
Regional Director, Pacific Regional Office, at (323) 965-3998.
For information regarding the Commission's action against the
four transfer agents, contact Daniel F. Shea, Regional Director,
Central Regional Office at (303) 844-1000.

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