Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, the Chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, announced that the full Committee would continue its oversight hearings on accounting and investor protection issues following the collapse of Enron Corp. by hearing from members of the Public Oversight Board. The Public Oversight Board is charged with overseeing ethics and disciplinary issues for the accounting profession and members recently voted unanimously to disband its existence following the announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they were proposing creating another oversight board which would render their efforts meaningless.

In addition, the Committee will also hear from a former Chairman of the FDIC, a former Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs and Co., and a leading Wall Street analyst to seek recommendations on how to avoid future Enron Corp. collapses.

The hearing will be held:

Scheduled to testify are:

• Mr. Charles A. Bowsher - Chairman, Public Oversight Board and Former Comptroller General of the United States;
• Ms. Aulana L. Peters - Member, Public Oversight Board;
• Mr. L. William Seidman - Former Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Resolution Trust Corporation;
• Mr. John C. Whitehead - Former Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs & Co. and Former Deputy Secretary of State; and
• Mr. Michael Mayo - Managing Director, Prudential Securities, Inc. and Head of Financial Services Research Group.

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