ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190051
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
The Securities and Exchange Commission is scaling back 40-year-old rules aimed at preventing manipulation of securities offerings, a move long sought by Wall Street.
The changes adopted Wednesday exempt people involved in public offerings of big, actively traded stocks from several anti-manipulation rules. About 1,900 U.S. stocks fall into the category.
The rules are meant to prevent traders from artificially inflating a company's stock price prior to the offering, thus making extra money.
But since it has become harder to corner the market in a big stock such as AT&T without arousing suspicion from analysts or other investors, the SEC believed it could narrow its focus to smaller stocks.
For stocks that remain subject to the anti-manipulation rules, the SEC will shorten the time during which participants in an offering are barred from trading in that stock.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 29 linesby CNB