Still on the Hot Seat
www.washingtonpost.com Sunday, January 12, 2003; Page H02
Still on the Hot Seat Remember those corporate scandals? They seemed to fade from the spotlight, especially after the Securities and Exchange Commission and several major investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston, J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, agreed to multimillion-dollar fines. But some probing and enforcing is still going on: Investigators are looking at not just famous analysts such as Henry Blodget but also their bosses. The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to impose stiffer penalties on white-collar criminals who bilk large numbers of investors. And the SEC may require company lawyers to quit and inform the SEC if a client fails to stop illegal activity the lawyers have identified.
Oil Price Maneuverings With Venezuela's oil production reduced by a strike and political unrest, and war with Iraq in full loom, the United States stepped up efforts to increase world supply and bring down prices that hovered above $30 per barrel. The United States is lobbying OPEC countries to boost production, which the organization's ministers say is in the works. That dropped crude prices, but only temporarily. And after seeking to avoid involvement in the Venezuela conflict, U.S. diplomats have put together a group of intermediaries that will try to mediate between Venezuela's government and opposition forces.
More Jobs Disappear It was a grim week on the job front. Pittsburgh-based Alcoa announced layoffs of 8,000, on the heels of 10,000 cuts last year. America Online, the Virginia-based division of AOL Time Warner, said it would aggressively slash costs and workers this year, though it did not specify how many of the unit's 18,000 employees would be shown the door. (Also, the parent company plans to take a $10 billion charge against earnings.) At AT&T, the number will be 3,500. At the end of the week, the Labor Department surprised analysts by announcing that 101,000 jobs were lost in December, due largely to less-than-expected holiday hiring.
Those Annoying Calls The Federal Trade Commission has been working on a plan to stop some of those unsolicited sales pitches: a national do-not-call list that would let consumers put in their own phone numbers. If a telemarketing firm called a number on the list, it could be fined as much as $11,000. FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris wants $16 million from Congress to start get the program; eventually it will be subsidized by the telemarketers. But Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) held up a stop sign, saying he wanted his Energy and Commerce Committee to review it. Tauzin now says he's on board, but it's uncertain just where the money will come from.
Bio-Food Fight The United States is considering hauling the European Union before the World Trade Organization over the EU nations' refusal to accept genetically modified food. U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick said the suit would seek to overturn a four-year EU ban on gene-altered plants such as corn and soybeans. The comments spurred speculation of further deterioration of trade relations between the two sides. U.S. farmers and agricultural companies favor WTO action.