Senate panel director viewed as contender for SEC's fifth slot.

WASHINGTON -- Martha L. Cochran, the chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Banking Committee's securities subcommittee, is one of several candidates being considered by President Clinton for a seat on the Securities and Exchange Commission, sources said yesterday.

If nominated and confirmed, Cochran would fill the only remaining vacancy on the five-member commission. The slot has been vacant since March 1992, when commissioner Edward Fleischman resigned.

Before she was named chief counsel of the securities subcommittee in 1989, Cochran served for two years as legislative director on the personal staff of Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the panel. Previous to that, she was the chief counsel for financial issues of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on telecommunications and finance.

The candidate also worked as an attorney in the SEC's enforcement division for five years, including two and a half years as a special counsel. She is a graduate of the University of Florida Law School in Gainesville.

Cochran is one of several people being considered for the SEC post, including former Maryland Securities Commissioner Ellyn Brown.

Arthur Levitt Jr., meanwhile, is scheduled to make his first appearance before Congress today as SEC chairman since his Senate confirmation Monday. He will testify before Dodd's subcommittee on pending legislation to reauthorize the SEC.

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