BANKING & FINANCE - Sept. 14, 1996

Securities Bill Stalled for Now: Key Republican senators are balking at a compromise plan that would reduce company stock-filing fees. The compromise was struck by House aides and the White House. The senators’ action casts new doubt on whether Congress will pass a securities deregulation bill, congressional aides said. The compromise, reached earlier this week, would reduce fees companies pay to register stock and bond sales with the Securities and Exchange Commission by $850 million over the next 10 years. Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and two other Republican senators object to the compromise because company fees would actually rise by $24 million during the next two years, the aides said. Although fees would then be scheduled to fall in the next eight years, the senators fear the cuts would never come to pass.