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Bush to Announce SEC Chairman

Aired December 10, 2002 - 11:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're wondering whether or not the news coming from the White House this morning is going to move the markets further. Let's talk about that right now because President Bush is rebuilding his team. He's tapped an old Wall Street hand to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that has been battered by the rash of corporate scandals.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, checks in now on this developing story -- hello, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Leon, and I think you just hit the point here that the White House hopes to make today. I would venture to guess, before the Enron scandal, the WorldCom scandal, most Americans paid very little attention to what the SEC did, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and who its chairman might be from day to day, but because of the vacancy now in place, and because of all the uncertainty in the markets in recent months, the White House hoping that by naming a new chairman today, the president will give at least a small boost to the confidence of the traders on Wall Street, and perhaps to individual investors across country as well.

The president's choice, we are told, is a gentleman by the name of William Donaldson. He is a throwback, just like the president's choice for Treasury secretary yesterday. Mr. Donaldson served in the Ford and Nixon administrations in the State Department in those days under Henry Kissinger. Since then, he has built quite an impressive resume on Wall Street. He was the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange for a period of time in the 1990s. Also the founding member of an investment banking firm that bears his name, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, might be familiar to those who follow the markets.

A former chairman of AETNA, the giant insurance company, an ex- Marine who has something in common with this president, he's a graduate of Yale University and received an MBA, a masters in business administration from Harvard. President Bush out of the White House at this hour delivering a speech on service, government service and volunteer service at the Chamber of Commerce, but we are told he will be back at the White House later today and will make public this announcement of William -- William Donaldson, excuse me, to succeed Harvey Pitt as the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Harvey Pitt was the president's first choice in that job. Democrats protested from the beginning, saying he was a bad choice at a time of corporate upheaval and scandal because he used to be a lawyer for the accounting industry.

Mr. Bush finally forced Harvey Pitt to resign some time ago. The White House has been looking for a period of a couple of months now for a suitable replacement. Mr. Bush will make that announcement later today here at the White House -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, John, quickly if you can, have you learned anything at all about what is the expected stance that Mr. Donaldson actually would take on Wall Street issues -- as a matter of fact, specifically concerning oversight of accounting? We understood that one of the problems that Harvey Pitt had was that he was perceived as being very, very soft on the accounting scandals, and on the measures that would be necessary to correct that sort of thing. Anything at all to be said yet at this point about Donaldson and what his stance may be on all of that?

KING: Well, White House officials say he fully supports the new corporate control measures adopted by the Congress with the support of the administration. One of the things Congress forced on the administration is a new oversight board to oversee the accounting industry. That board will essentially monitor the accounting industry to make sure that corporations are filing what are believed to be truthful statements so that investors, when they pick a company to invest, whether it is their 401(k) or buying individual stocks have some confidence that what they read is actually the truth.

White House officials say he fully supports the new law. Most of all, they say this is a senior figure, well-known in Washington, well- known on Wall Street, a steady reassuring figure is how he's being described here at the White House. Somebody the White House believes will send just the right signals, especially to institutional traders on Wall Street, but perhaps to Americans across the country, who at this time of year, are getting their annual 401(k) statements. They can't be happy when they see the bottom line in most of those.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Thanks, John. John King at the White House.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 10, 2002 - 11:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We're wondering whether or not the news coming from the White House this morning is going to move the markets further. Let's talk about that right now because President Bush is rebuilding his team. He's tapped an old Wall Street hand to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that has been battered by the rash of corporate scandals.
Our senior White House correspondent, John King, checks in now on this developing story -- hello, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Leon, and I think you just hit the point here that the White House hopes to make today. I would venture to guess, before the Enron scandal, the WorldCom scandal, most Americans paid very little attention to what the SEC did, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and who its chairman might be from day to day, but because of the vacancy now in place, and because of all the uncertainty in the markets in recent months, the White House hoping that by naming a new chairman today, the president will give at least a small boost to the confidence of the traders on Wall Street, and perhaps to individual investors across country as well.

The president's choice, we are told, is a gentleman by the name of William Donaldson. He is a throwback, just like the president's choice for Treasury secretary yesterday. Mr. Donaldson served in the Ford and Nixon administrations in the State Department in those days under Henry Kissinger. Since then, he has built quite an impressive resume on Wall Street. He was the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange for a period of time in the 1990s. Also the founding member of an investment banking firm that bears his name, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, might be familiar to those who follow the markets.

A former chairman of AETNA, the giant insurance company, an ex- Marine who has something in common with this president, he's a graduate of Yale University and received an MBA, a masters in business administration from Harvard. President Bush out of the White House at this hour delivering a speech on service, government service and volunteer service at the Chamber of Commerce, but we are told he will be back at the White House later today and will make public this announcement of William -- William Donaldson, excuse me, to succeed Harvey Pitt as the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Harvey Pitt was the president's first choice in that job. Democrats protested from the beginning, saying he was a bad choice at a time of corporate upheaval and scandal because he used to be a lawyer for the accounting industry.

Mr. Bush finally forced Harvey Pitt to resign some time ago. The White House has been looking for a period of a couple of months now for a suitable replacement. Mr. Bush will make that announcement later today here at the White House -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, John, quickly if you can, have you learned anything at all about what is the expected stance that Mr. Donaldson actually would take on Wall Street issues -- as a matter of fact, specifically concerning oversight of accounting? We understood that one of the problems that Harvey Pitt had was that he was perceived as being very, very soft on the accounting scandals, and on the measures that would be necessary to correct that sort of thing. Anything at all to be said yet at this point about Donaldson and what his stance may be on all of that?

KING: Well, White House officials say he fully supports the new corporate control measures adopted by the Congress with the support of the administration. One of the things Congress forced on the administration is a new oversight board to oversee the accounting industry. That board will essentially monitor the accounting industry to make sure that corporations are filing what are believed to be truthful statements so that investors, when they pick a company to invest, whether it is their 401(k) or buying individual stocks have some confidence that what they read is actually the truth.

White House officials say he fully supports the new law. Most of all, they say this is a senior figure, well-known in Washington, well- known on Wall Street, a steady reassuring figure is how he's being described here at the White House. Somebody the White House believes will send just the right signals, especially to institutional traders on Wall Street, but perhaps to Americans across the country, who at this time of year, are getting their annual 401(k) statements. They can't be happy when they see the bottom line in most of those.

HARRIS: All right. Good deal. Thanks, John. John King at the White House.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com