Salomon Case Spurs Review at Finance Board
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury auction scandal involving Salomon Inc. has prompted the Federal Housing Finance Board to examine the procedures it uses for selling debt, the board said.
The agency oversees the 12-member Home Loan Bank System and raises money for it by issuing debt.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has said many brokerage firms inflated customer orders when submitting bids for the debt of quasi-governmental agencies.
$108 Billion of Debt
The Housing Finance Board said it is conducting a detailed review of the procedures used by its finance office as well as the activities of the selling group it uses to distribute its debt. A spokesman declined to say when the examination would be finished.
As of the end of August, the Home Loan Bank System had about $108 billion in consolidated debt.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that its antitrust division was investigating evidence that there may have been collusion and price fixing among firms in the Treasury securities market.
