Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 20, 1993 TAG: 9305200093
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
In a state court suit filed in Dallas, Don Roney says he told the Securities and Exchange Commission about the alleged trading and made the same claim in letters to NationsBank's board of directors.
Roney's suit alleges that Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank caused him to be fired from a job with another bank seven months after NationsBank had dismissed him.
One portion of the suit asserts that "NCNB executives, including Timothy Hartman and Darwin Smith, may have violated federal securities laws regarding `insider information,' "by using investment information not available to the public to trade in securities of NationsBank or C&S/Sovran, which merged with NCNB Corp. to form NationsBank.
The suit says it was Roney's job to fly top NationsBank executives around the country, including to potential acquisition targets.
The SEC declined comment, as did Hartman, who is chairman of NationsBank's Texas operation. Smith, former head of a division that contracted with the government to manage problem assets, is no longer with NationsBank and could not be reached for comment.
Roney complained to the SEC in September 1991, shortly after he was fired and just two months after NationsBank, then known as NCNB Corp., agreed to buy Atlanta-based C&S/Sovran Corp. for about $4.5 billion.
In December, NationsBank confirmed the SEC was looking into trading in shares of NationsBank and C&S/Sovran and said the bank thought the inquiry was routine.
The SEC usually doesn't comment on pending investigations, and it is not known if Roney's allegations are part of that inquiry.
This week, NationsBank spokeswoman Mary Waller said: "The SEC often makes such inquiries in the wake of a major merger, and in fact has done so in conjunction with at least four of this company's mergers. To the best of our knowledge, no one connected with NationsBank has engaged in any unlawful or inappropriate activity, and we have not been notified by the SEC of any problems."
Roney's suit revolves around his firing from NationsBank in September 1991 and his later firing from Meridian BanCorp, based in Reading, Pa. Roney's suit claims Hartman caused the second firing.
by CNB