FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           99-171
                                 
SEC Proposes Rule to Ban Selective Disclosure of Material Information;
       Adopts Rules to Enhance Audit Committee Effectiveness

     Washington, DC, December 15, 1999 -- The Securities and
Exchange Commission today proposed new rules to ban selective
disclosure of material information and to clarify insider trading
rules, and adopted rules to enhance the effectiveness of corporate
audit committees.

     Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt
said, "The all-too-common practice of selectively disseminating
material information is a disservice to investors and undermines
the fundamental principle of fairness.  This practice leads to
potential conflicts of interest for analysts and undermines
investor confidence in our markets.  Sixteen months ago, I voiced
concerns over what I saw as an emerging culture of gamesmanship
within the financial reporting process.  A culture that allowed
the pressure to meet earnings expectations to come before long
established precepts of financial reporting, and ethical
restraint.  The rules we passed today are positive steps in the
direction of even greater integrity in the financial reporting and
public disclosure process."

Rules Proposed to Ban Selective Disclosure and Clarify Insider
Trading Laws

* Selective Disclosure:  The Commission proposed a new rule,
  Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure), which would bar companies from
  selectively disclosing material information.

* Use/Possession Issue:  The Commission proposed a new rule
  that says insider trading liability arises when a person trades
  while "aware" of material nonpublic information.  Under current
  law, courts have split on the issue of whether insider trading
  liability requires trading while in "knowing possession" of
  material nonpublic information, or proof that the trader "used"
  the information in trading.

* Misappropriation of Information Theory Involving Family and
  Other Personal Relationships:  The Commission proposed a rule to
  clarify when a person (family member or other personal
  relationship) receiving confidential information would owe a duty
  of trust or confidence to the person giving the information and
  therefore could not trade on that information.

Rules Adopted to Enhance Audit Committee Effectiveness

     The Commission also adopted new rules to enhance audit
committee effectiveness, to improve disclosure about audit
committees, and to enhance the reliability of financial
statements.  These rules include requirements that:  companies'
interim financial statements be reviewed by independent auditors
before being filed with the Commission; companies provide in their
proxy statements a report from the audit committee that discloses
whether it recommended to the Board that the audited financial
statements be included in Forms 10-K and 10-KSB for filing with
the Commission; companies disclose in their proxy statements
whether the audit committee has a written charter, and file a copy
of their charter every three years; companies whose securities are
listed on the NYSE or AMEX or are quoted on Nasdaq disclose
certain information about any audit committee member who is not
"independent"; and all companies disclose whether the audit
committee members are "independent."

     Detailed fact sheets are available on the Commission's
website at www.sec.gov.

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