For Immediate Release                       97-114

Municipal Securities Underwriters Pay a Total of $325,000 in
                            Fines

                              
     Washington, DC,  December , 1997 --  The Securities
and Exchange Commission announced today that NASD Regulation
Inc. censured and fined 21 securities firms for violations
of Rule G-36 of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
At the same time, the Comptroller of the Currency sanctioned
a division of a bank for similar violations.*  These
proceedings resulted from a coordinated effort by the SEC,
NASD Regulation, Inc. and the OCC.

     Rule G-36 requires firms underwriting municipal
securities offerings to send the official statements from
those offerings to the MSRB within one day of receiving the
information from the issuer, and in no case later than 10
days from the date of the agreement to purchase the
securities.  The official statement is then placed in the
Board's Municipal Securities Information Library, and is
available to the public.

     Chairman Arthur Levitt said, "Today's enforcement
actions are a wake-up call to municipal securities
underwriters.  The lapses here are particularly unfortunate
because they are so widespread, involving every category of
municipal underwriter, from national and regional securities
firms to a bank.  Rule G-36 is an important investor
protection rule.   The requirements of the rule enhance the
quality of disclosure, and improve the overall integrity and
efficiency of the municipal securities market.  I hope that
today's actions will remind market participants that the
information is important and that firms need to have
procedures in place to comply with the MSRB rules."

     The SEC, NASD Regulation Inc., the OCC, the Federal
Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
share responsibility for enforcing the MSRB rules.


                         #    #    #

     *See attached list

     Firms Sanctioned by NASD Regulation, Inc.
Amount
     
             Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
$25,000
        First of America Securities, Inc.
$10,000
        First Southwest Company
$10,000
        First Union Capital Markets Corp.
$10,000
        Goldman, Sachs & Co.                      $25,000
        J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
$25,000
        Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
$10,000
        Miller, Johnson & Kuehn, Inc.
$10,000
        Morgan, Keegan & Co., Inc.                $10,000
      Morgan Stanley & Co., Incorporated
$10,000
      Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.                     $10,000
      PaineWebber Incorporated.                   $25,000
      Piper Jaffray Inc.                          $10,000
      PNC Capital Markets, Inc.                   $10,000
      Prudential Securities Incorporated
$25,000
      Raymond James and Associates                $10,000
      Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp.
$10,000
      Smith Barney Inc.                           $25,000
      Stone & Youngberg, LLC.                $10,000
      SunTrust Capital Markets, Inc.
$10,000
      Sutro & Co. Inc.                            $25,000


     Bank Sanctioned by OCC                       Amount

          Commerce Capital, a Division of
          Commerce Bank, N.A.                $10,000