October 252000

House

OKs

Bill

To

Reduce

Bank

Risk

The

House

passed

a

bill

yesterday

(H.R.

1161)

designed

to

reduce

risk

to

the

nation's

banking

system

should

a

major

financial

institution

become

insolvent,

according

to

the

Associated

Press.

The

measure,

supported

by

the

Clinton

administration,

passed

by

a

voice

vote.

The

legislation

would

allow

a

bank

or

investment

firm

in

bankruptcy-court

protection

and

its

creditors

to

use

the

net

value

of

the

company's

losses

from

derivatives

trading

in

calculations,

rather

than

the

much

larger

gross

value.

The

difference

is

designed

to

avoid

tying

up

the

trading

contracts

too

long

in

bankruptcy

proceedings.

The

Senate

has

yet

to

act

on

a

similar

measure.

The

measure

adopted

yesterday

also

is

included

as

a

provision

in

broader

legislation

rewriting

the

bankruptcy

laws,

passed

by

the

House

on

Oct.

12,

that

President

Clinton

has

vowed

to

veto.

Because

of

the

veto

promise,

Treasury

Secretary

Lawrence

Summers,

representing

the

administration,

and

Federal

Reserve

Chairman

Alan

Greenspan

urged

the

leaders

Friday

to

adopt

the

provision

as

a

stand-alone

bill.

CanFibre

Group's

Riverside

Unit

Files

Bankruptcy

CanFibre

Group

Ltd.'s

Riverside

unit

filed

chapter

11

yesterday

in

the

U.S.

Bankruptcy

Court

in

Delaware,

listing

assets

and

debts

of

more

than

$100

million

each

in

court

papers,

according

to

a

Reuters

report.

In

court

papers,

Riverside,

which

is

based

in

California,

said

the

largest

unsecured

claims

against

it

are

$85

million

in

bond

debt

held

by

Bank

of

New

York

as

indenture

trustee;

and

$15

million

in

subordinated

notes

held

by

Enron

Corp.

unit

and

Enron

Capital

&

Trade

Resources

Inc.

of

Houston,

Texas.

Dotcom

Executives

More

Likely

to

Have

Dark

Pasts

Internet

executives

are

four

times

more

likely

to

have

'unsavory

backgrounds'

than

executives

from

other

industries,

according

to

an

investigation

by

Kroll

Associates.

The

research

findings

are

likely

to

add

to

concerns

about

the

dotcom

sector,

which

has

been

hit

by

doubts

about

its

viability.

It

also

underlines

how

far

the

rapid

pace

of

internet

investing

-

which

has

eroded

traditional

business

practices,

such

as

background

checks

on

employees

and

close

financial

scrutiny

-

have

helped

create

an

agreeable

climate

for

potential

fraudsters.

Over

the

past

six

months

Kroll

carried

out

70

due

diligence

background

investigations

of

Internet

executives

and

board

members.

About

39

per

cent

-

or

27

people

-

were

found

to

have

problems.

Kroll

typically

expects

problems

in

10

percent

of

cases.

The

problems

unearthed

in

the

worldwide

investigation

included:

violations

of

Securities

and

Exchange

Commission

rules,

insurance

fraud,

undisclosed

bankruptcies,

frauds

committed

overseas

and

even

links

to

organized

crime.

Many

dotcoms

have

not

formally

appointed

finance

directors

or

embraced

traditional

forms

of

corporate

governance,

such

as

holding

regular

board

meetings

to

monitor

decisions

and

the

flow

of

money.

Golden

Phoenix

Minerals

Wins

Purchase

Bid

for

Mineral

Ridge

Gold

Mine

Golden

Phoenix

Minerals

Inc.

announced

yesterday

that

its

bid

to

buy

the

Mineral

Ridge

gold

mine

in

Esmeralda

County,

Nevada

was

granted

recently

by

the

federal

bankruptcy

court

in

Reno,

according

to

a

newswire

report.

The

formal

closing

and

takeover

of

the

mining

property

is

scheduled

for

Nov.

2.

The

Mineral

Ridge

mine

is

located

near

Silver

Peak,

Nevada.

The

property

consists

of

54

patented

and

119

unpatented

mining

claims

totaling

nearly

4.2

square

miles.

Gold

was

discovered

at

Mineral

Ridge

in

1864

and

intermittent

mining

operations

have

occurred

from

that

date

to

the

present.

Golden

Phoenix

controls

two

other

advanced

stage

properties

in

Nevada.

Golden

Phoenix

Minerals

Inc.

is

a

mineral-property

development

company

that

specializes

in

acquiring

and

consolidating

large,

advanced-stage

properties

with

potential

for

near-term

production

and

good

resource

development.