FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                     99-105

         Chairman Arthur Levitt Names Helane L. Morrison
         Head of the SEC's San Francisco District Office

     Washington, DC, August 30, 1999 -- Chairman Arthur Levitt
today announced the selection of Helane L. Morrison as District
Administrator of the Securities and Exchange Commission's San
Francisco District Office.  The San Francisco Office is part of
the Commission's Pacific Region, which is headquartered in Los
Angeles.  In her capacity as District Administrator, Ms. Morrison
will manage the enforcement and examination programs within the
San Francisco Office's jurisdiction.

     Ms. Morrison joined the Commission in 1996 as Assistant
District Administrator in the San Francisco District Office with
responsibility for overseeing the Office's enforcement program.
In that capacity, she supervised a number of significant
investigations, including investigations that resulted in
enforcement actions against Republic Securities of New York, Dean
Witter, and the auditors of California Micro Devices.

     Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Morrison was a partner
in the San Francisco law firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski,
Canady, Falk & Rabkin, and served as judicial law clerk to
Justice Harry A. Blackmun, United States Supreme Court, and Judge
Richard A. Posner, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit.  Ms. Morrison earned a B.S. at Northwestern University
in 1975 and a J.D. from the University of California-Berkeley
(Boalt Hall) in 1984.

     Chairman Arthur Levitt said, "I am very pleased that Helane
Morrison has agreed to serve as District Administrator of our San
Francisco Office.  Helane is a very talented lawyer with
excellent experience.  She has proven to be a fine manager in
administering a vibrant enforcement program in that Office.  I am
confident that she will carry out the responsibilities of this
important position with intelligence and effectiveness, and I
look forward to continuing to work with her."

     Richard H. Walker, Director of the SEC's Division of
Enforcement, said, "Helane has been a highly effective leader of
the San Francisco District Office's enforcement program for the
past three years.  She brings to her new position as District
Administrator a vast reservoir of talent, knowledge, and
expertise."

     Valerie Caproni, Regional Director of the SEC's Pacific
Regional Office, said, "Helane is a great asset to the
Commission.  She is creative and aggressively pursues the public
interest in enforcement cases.  She will do an excellent job as
the new head of the District Office."

     Ms. Morrison, 46, succeeds David B. Bayless, who left the
Commission in May 1999 to practice law in the private sector.

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