BANKING & FINANCE - Dec. 18, 1992

American Express to Review Shearson Spinoff: The company’s board is expected to review early next year a formal proposal to spin off more than 50% of its stake in the company’s Shearson Lehman Bros. brokerage unit through a public offering of Shearson stock. Company sources confirmed that a senior Shearson official had drafted a formal plan for offering the stock to the public. But officials--both on and off the record--cautioned that it was by no means certain that American Express’ board will go ahead with such a plan, which envisages American Express anteing as much as $2 billion to shore up Shearson’s balance sheet and writing off part of its investment in the subsidiary.