SEC eases rules on share buybacks
Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 14, 2001
The Securities and Exchange Commission used its emergency powers for the first time Friday to ease restrictions on companies buying back their own shares. The move is meant to smooth trading for the anticipated reopening of the stock markets Monday after an extraordinary four-session shutdown. The agency said it was the first time it had invoked its emergency powers for such an action. Under the new rules, the SEC said, corporations may buy back their own shares without meeting customary restrictions regarding the volume of shares and timing of purchases. The move will allow more money to be pumped into the market. In addition, mutual funds may borrow from and lend to related parties.
China clinched one of its top economic and political goals Friday, with an agreement on the terms of its membership of the World Trade Organization after 15 years of tough and complex talks. A compromise was reached over the last remaining obstacle – a dispute over insurance companies – clearing the way for weary negotiators to sign off on the draft membership accord.
Kaiser Aluminum Corp. announced Friday it will keep its Northwest smelters idle at least through October because of poor prices for metal. Kaiser officials had hoped to restart the aluminum-making pot lines at smelters in Spokane and Tacoma after new federal power contracts take effect Oct. 1. The smelters have been idle since last year as the company has made more money selling unused electricity than making metal.
The Boeing Co. and its employees will donate at least $5 million to humanitarian efforts related to Tuesday’s terrorist attack, the company said Friday. Boeing employees, through their Community Fund, already have voted to donate $1 million of their existing funds to the effort, Boeing corporate spokesman Ken Mercer said. And they’ve embarked on a new fund-raising campaign, which the company will match dollar-for-dollar, he said. That campaign had raised $500,000 as of Friday, Mercer said. Employees can see the company’s internal Web site for instructions on how to donate, either by cash, check or credit card, Mercer said. The money raised will be split evenly between the Red Cross and United Way’s September 11 Fund.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG may postpone its decision to buy 15 of Airbus Industrie’s new A380 supersize jets after Tuesday’s attacks in the United States put further pressure on the already weak airline industry. Lufthansa’s supervisory board meeting was originally scheduled to meet next Wednesday to discuss the purchase of the 15 planes, but a Lufthansa spokeswoman told Dow Jones News Service that it is undecided whether this is still on the agenda. Airlines are expected to lose billions as a result of the crash, and the numbers of people traveling by air is expected to plummet in the coming months.
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