Paine Webber Chief Rejects Probe Invitation

A House panel investigating favoritism and mismanagement in federal housing programs was in a standoff Thursday with Paine Webber Inc. over whether the company’s chief executive officer will be called to testify next month.

Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), chairman of the House Government Operations housing subcommittee, invited Donald B. Marron, chief executive officer of the investment firm, to testify on Sept. 27 about the firm’s consulting arrangements with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Lantos said that questions about Paine Webber’s involvement had been raised during the panel’s investigation of Lance H. Wilson, a first vice president of Paine Webber and a former HUD official. Wilson has been subpoenaed to testify at the hearing.

In a statement issued Wednesday in New York, Paine Webber said: “The appropriate person to testify is James C. Treadway Jr., our general counsel, and we have so suggested to the subcommittee.”