SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   Litigation Release No. 16361/ November 18, 1999

   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. STEPHEN B. HUMPHRIES, Civil
   Action No. 99-3074 (GK) (D.D.C.) (filed November 18, 1999)

              SEC SUES LITTLE ROCK CPA FOR INSIDER TRADING IN
                   MOBIL-EXXON MERGER; DEFENDANT SETTLES
                        BY PAYING MORE THAN $144,000

   On November 18, 1999, the Commission filed a civil complaint in the
   United States District Court for the District of Columbia against
   Little Rock certified public accountant Stephen B. Humphries in
   connection with his purchases in November 1998 of Call options of
   Mobil Corporation, the second largest U.S. oil company. The complaint
   alleges that the defendant engaged in insider trading prior to the
   November 27, 1998 public announcement that Mobil and Exxon Corporation
   were in merger discussions. The complaint alleges that the defendant
   violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule
   10b-5 thereunder.

   The complaint alleges that on November 9, 1998, the defendant learned,
   in confidence, from an individual with whom he had a fiduciary or
   similar relationship of trust and confidence, that the individual had
   been approached by Mobil as a possible advisor on a potential merger
   between Mobil and Exxon. The complaint alleges that the defendant
   misappropriated that information when, on November 19, 1998, he
   purchased, with a friend and through that friend's brokerage account,
   100 Mobil Call options expiring in December 1998. Immediately after
   the November 27 announcement that Mobil and Exxon were in merger
   discussions, the Mobil Call options the defendant purchased
   approximately doubled in price. The defendant and his friend sold the
   options on November 30 and December 2, 1998, realizing total profits
   of $70,000.

   Simultaneously with the filing of the complaint, the defendant agreed
   to settle the civil action by consenting, without admitting or denying
   the allegations in the complaint, to the entry of an order permanently
   enjoining him from violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and
   Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and ordering him to pay $144,596.52, which
   comprises $70,000 in disgorgement of illicit trading profits,
   $4,596.52 in prejudgment interest thereon, and a civil penalty of
   $70,000.
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Modified 11/18/1999