FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       97-71



 USAID & SEC TO ADVISE EMERGING SECURITIES MARKETS ACROSS GLOBE 
                UNDER NEW AGREEMENT SIGNED TODAY




     Washington, D.C., September 2, 1997 -- The U.S. Agency for
International Development and the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission have teamed-up to provide expert assistance to
securities regulators in USAID countries throughout the world.  The
program is USAID-funded and jointly administered under a five-year,
$4 million interagency agreement signed today.

     Technical assistance will be provided by SEC employees,
principally to a country's regulatory agency and its stock
exchanges.  USAID missions' requests for SEC assistance will be
coordinated through USAID's Global Bureau, Office of Emerging
Markets.

     "Who better than the SEC and USAID to team up to export U.S.
expertise in this area and protect the interests of the U.S.
investor?" commented USAID Associate Administrator, Sally Shelton-
Colby.

     "The agreement is part of a continuing effort to use 'in-
house' resources to support USAID's economic growth agenda and
foreign assistance objectives," explained Russell Anderson,
Director of USAID's Office of Emerging Markets.  Robert D.
Strahota, Assistant Director in the SEC's Office of International
Affairs said, "This program reflects the SEC's commitment to
strengthening global securities markets and making them safer for
both American and foreign investors."

     The agreement is modeled after a similar program with USAID in
the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe.  Under this
program, the SEC has provided U.S. and overseas training to several
hundred senior capital markets officials from this region.




                              # # #