Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402280274
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: staff and wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Three business petitions have been filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke:
Abingdon Steel Fabricating Inc., headed by James F. Stroup, is seeking liquidation, listing assets of $245 and liabilities of $209,535.
Robert E. Allison and Elizabeth A. Allison of Vinton are seeking liquidation, listing assets of $13,460 and liabilities of $51,052. Elizabeth Allison formerly operated The Broom Closet, a New York commercial cleaning service.
Claude W. Brown and Helen B. Brown of Bristol are seeking protection from creditors during reorganization. They listed assets of $1.6 million and liabilities of $1 million. Claude Brown operates The Brown Agency, a real estate company. - Staff report\ \ Campaign to push clarity in fund sales
The National Association of Securities Dealers is beginning a campaign to discourage brokers and mutual-fund companies from using misleading advertisements and sales practices to promote funds to the public, particularly when those sales take place in banks.
The NASD is concerned about these areas:
Suitability - whether the fund being sold is appropriate for an investor and not merely the most lucrative for a broker to sell.
Break-point sales - funds give discounts on big purchases, which cut back on brokers' commissions on these sales; the NASD has found cases of brokers dividing large sums into smaller pieces to keep their commissions high.
Switching - also known as churning, or moving money from fund to fund to generate commissions.
Training and supervising salespeople - especially when dealing with people who are not brokerage employees, such as bank tellers.
Several studies, including surveys sponsored by federal and state securities regulators, have found that many people who buy funds through banks mistakenly believe the funds are guaranteed by the government or that they cannot lose money in their investments.
- The New York Times\ \ BCCI figure stays out of jail
LONDON - A Pakistani oil executive who helped BCCI falsify its balance sheets was convicted Friday of conspiracy, but he persuaded the judge he was a "broken man" who should not have to go to prison.
Mohammed Abdul Baqi, 68, was told to pay fines and prosecution costs of $255,000 after a jury found him guilty on six counts of conspiracy. Baqi was acquitted of one conspiracy count and the judge dismissed eight charges of furnishing false information.
Baqui, a former managing director of Attock Oil Co. Ltd. of London, was accused of conspiring with a former Bank of Credit and Commerce International mamager to provide bogus information to auditors from the accounting firm that was examining BCCI's financial reports. - Associated Press
by CNB