Wall Street

SEC OKs rules to curb conflicts of interest

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved new rules proposed by Wall Street’s self-policing bodies to curb conflicts of interest among financial analysts and restore investors’ confidence in the wake of Enron’s collapse.

The rules, which prohibit firms from tying their analysts’ compensation to related investment-banking business and make other changes, have been criticized by consumer advocates and some lawmakers as not going far enough.

Manufacturing

Wichita council approves bonds for Cessna center

The Wichita City Council has approved $60 million in bonds for Cessna Aircraft Co. to build a service center that would create 800 new jobs.

Under the deal approved Tuesday, Cessna is responsible for paying off the bonds. The city, county, state and federal governments, however, will invest another $40 million for projects such as a new runway and widening roads around the plant.

Cessna, which employs 11,500 in Wichita, announced in April that it expected to lose 1,000 jobs here this year through attrition.

The firm is optimistic that it can be back to that employment level in 2004 when the center opens, said James Morgan, Cessna’s vice president for service facilities.

Leadership

Bush chooses nominees for Federal Reserve Board

President Bush picked a Princeton economist and a top adviser to Alan Greenspan as his nominees for vacant positions on the Federal Reserve Board, the administration announced Wednesday.

The White House said in a brief statement that Bush had selected Ben Bernanke of Princeton and Donald Kohn, a longtime staffer with the Fed in Washington.

Bernanke was nominated for the two years remaining on a Fed term that will run until Jan. 31, 2004. If confirmed by the Senate, he will complete the term of Edward Kelley Jr., who resigned in December. Kohn was nominated for a full 14-year Fed term that will run until Jan. 21, 2016.

Accounting

KPMG to buy some offices of embattled Andersen

McLean, Va.-based KPMG Consulting Inc. plans to acquire as many as 23 business consulting units of Andersen Worldwide’s member firms for up to $284 million, KPMG announced Wednesday.

KPMG said it had signed a letter of intent that covers the consulting business of Andersen member firms in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Those businesses had combined revenue of about $1.4 billion last fiscal year.