SECURITIES

Utah Lawyer Backed for Vacancy on SEC: Norman S. Johnson, 64, of Salt Lake City is the apparent front-runner for a Republican seat on the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will have three vacancies at the end of the month. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is formally backing Johnson to join the five-member commission. In a telephone interview, Johnson said Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) forwarded his name to President Clinton in a May 16 letter. The President nominates each of the five members of the SEC, who must win Senate approval. SEC commissioners serve staggered five-year terms and guide Wall Street’s main policing agency. The commission currently has only three seats filled, and it will lose another commissioner at the end of the month when its sole GOP member, Richard Roberts, departs.