oracle
09-06-2002, 01:49 PM
Lawmakers profited from IPO access (http://www.msnbc.com/news/804380.asp?0dm=C238B)
Numerous congressmen got stock allocations
<font size=1>By Christine B. Whelan and Tom Hamburger
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL</font>
WASHINGTON, Sept.. 6 — Several members of congressional committees now investigating how Wall Street doles out lucrative initial public offering stocks to favored bigwigs have themselves gotten access to coveted IPOs.
THE MOST PROMINENT is New York Rep. John LaFalce, the House Financial Services Committee’s top Democrat. In calling for hearings last week, he contended that IPO allocations based on inappropriate considerations was one of many investment-banking practices “that are atrocious but not illegal.” Long an active investor, Rep. LaFalce in 1995 secured $15,000 of IPO stock in Healthcare Services Corp., some of which he sold three months later for a $5,000-plus profit.
Mr. LaFalce denied getting favorable treatment from his broker and said he lost money overall on the investment, which he called a “once-in-a-life” event. “There’s no awkwardness at all,” said Mr. LaFalce of his participation in the IPO inquiry. “I’m not speaking against IPOs. Companies need to come to the marketplace and we want to encourage that. we want to make it as open as possible.”
Mr. LaFalce is one of numerous members who dabbled in such shares during the IPO salad days, when it was almost certain that prices immediately would spike. Others include Gary Ackerman, another New York Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, and California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who sits on the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer affairs, which is likely to hold IPO hearings this month.
[B]...
Click here to read more (http://www.msnbc.com/news/804380.asp?0dm=C238B)
Numerous congressmen got stock allocations
<font size=1>By Christine B. Whelan and Tom Hamburger
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL</font>
WASHINGTON, Sept.. 6 — Several members of congressional committees now investigating how Wall Street doles out lucrative initial public offering stocks to favored bigwigs have themselves gotten access to coveted IPOs.
THE MOST PROMINENT is New York Rep. John LaFalce, the House Financial Services Committee’s top Democrat. In calling for hearings last week, he contended that IPO allocations based on inappropriate considerations was one of many investment-banking practices “that are atrocious but not illegal.” Long an active investor, Rep. LaFalce in 1995 secured $15,000 of IPO stock in Healthcare Services Corp., some of which he sold three months later for a $5,000-plus profit.
Mr. LaFalce denied getting favorable treatment from his broker and said he lost money overall on the investment, which he called a “once-in-a-life” event. “There’s no awkwardness at all,” said Mr. LaFalce of his participation in the IPO inquiry. “I’m not speaking against IPOs. Companies need to come to the marketplace and we want to encourage that. we want to make it as open as possible.”
Mr. LaFalce is one of numerous members who dabbled in such shares during the IPO salad days, when it was almost certain that prices immediately would spike. Others include Gary Ackerman, another New York Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, and California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who sits on the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer affairs, which is likely to hold IPO hearings this month.
[B]...
Click here to read more (http://www.msnbc.com/news/804380.asp?0dm=C238B)