Shearson Lehman Bros

The New York-based investment banking firm said its affiliate, OS International Inc., and First Commercial Bureau Friendship Corp. of Peking have signed agreements on the $150-million investment. Plans call for development of a 25-story luxury hotel on Peking's main thoroughfare. The first five floors of the hotel will be used as a new "friendship store" for foreigners. Construction will take two years, the announcement said. Shearson Lehman Bros.

Lehman Bros. Agrees to Pay $850,000 Fine: The major Wall Street investment bank agreed to pay the civil fine to settle charges that it made improper bids for securities of its former parent, American Express Co. Lehman, without admitting or denying the allegations, settled Securities and Exchange Commission administrative charges concerning bids for money market preferred stock issued by American Express between 1984 and 1990, the SEC said. American Express wasn't charged with wrongdoing.

In addition to the New York brokerage, the commission censured Stein Roe & Farnham, a Chicago investment advisory firm. The commission charged that the two firms had failed "to have reasonably supervised" four employees who allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud clients of both companies, including union pension and welfare funds. The firms signed consent decrees settling the charges without admitting or denying any wrongdoing.

A former Shearson Lehman Bros. broker and a former compliance officer for the firm have been acquitted of federal criminal charges involving alleged forgery of a client's signature. Charles M. Lewis, 63, a longtime broker in Manhattan often quoted as an authority on the stock market, and Edward Coyle, 36, former compliance officer in Lewis' branch office, were found not guilty on all counts by a jury here late Tuesday.

Merrill Lynch & Co. on Monday reported a 98% drop in fourth-quarter earnings, while Shearson Lehman Bros. posted a $95-million loss for the period, becoming the first of a parade of major securities firms expected to announce poor earnings or losses stemming from the October market crash and subsequent industry slowdown. Merrill Lynch, the nation's largest brokerage, said it earned $3.5 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, down sharply from $182.8 million in the year-ago final quarter.

Creditors of bankrupt First Capital Holdings charged Wednesday in a federal lawsuit that Shearson Lehman Bros. and some First Capital officials conspired to enrich themselves at the expense of the company's shareholders and lenders. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks $300 million in damages from Shearson, the New York brokerage giant, and First Capital, the parent of First Capital Life Insurance Co. and Fidelity Banker's Life Insurance Co.

Amid a swirl of corporate intrigue fueled by strong personalities and weak financial performance, American Express Co. said Monday that its president, Harvey Golub, will succeed James D. Robinson III as chief executive but that Robinson will stay on as chairman. Also, in a surprising development, Robinson will take charge of the company's Shearson Lehman Bros. unit, the company said.

North Coast Executive Center, the Oxnard office building with the curved, green-glass facade, has changed its name, hired a new management company and attracted a major new tenant. Henceforth, the 110,000-square-foot structure, which was completed in 1991 as the county's commercial real estate market sank into recession, will be known as 1000 Town Center Drive. In another move, the building's owner, NCEC Realty Inc., a subsidiary of Citicorp, has named the Voit Cos.

Smith Barney Lays Off 1,500: Primerica Corp.'s Smith Barney brokerage said it expects to lay off up to 1,500 people because of its merger with Shearson Lehman Bros. Inc. The two companies announced in March that Primerica would buy Shearson, which is owned by American Express Co., and merge it with Smith Barney. A spokesman said in New York that the layoffs would be in a range of 1,200 to 1,500.

Charles M. Lewis, once a top-producing Shearson Lehman Bros. broker and an often-quoted commentator on the stock market, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to defraud a former customer through forgery. The indictment, returned in Manhattan, charges that the 63-year-old ex-broker conspired with a Shearson compliance officer to forge the customer's signature on a document.

Shearson Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. agreed to settle several civil lawsuits that stemmed from illegal insider trading by former Shearson employee Dennis Levine. The civil suits were filed by Litton Industries Inc. and Hercules Inc. in 1986, after Levine pleaded guilty to charges of insider trading filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Levine, accused of earning $12.

Moving to create a stock brokerage powerhouse that will rival industry giant Merrill Lynch & Co., Primerica Corp. on Friday agreed to buy Shearson Lehman Bros.' retail brokerage and money management businesses from American Express Co. for $1 billion. Under the proposed transaction, the Shearson units will be merged with Primerica's Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. brokerage.

In a Darwinian industry notorious for burning out executives and destroying weak firms, Sanford I. Weill has proven tremendously resilient. While other Wall Street chieftains and deal makers rose and fell, the 59-year-old Weill has continued to reshape the competitive landscape in the securities industry for three decades. Though his profile had been lower than usual the last eight years, Weill on Friday staged a remarkable return to center stage.

Primerica Corp.--headed by Sanford I. Weill, one of Wall Street's most prolific deal makers--is negotiating to acquire the brokerage business of American Express' Shearson Lehman Bros., the companies said Tuesday. The deal--which would combine Primerica's Smith Barney, Harris Upham subsidiary with Shearson's domestic retail brokerage and asset-management business--would create a Wall Street powerhouse with 11,400 brokers and nearly 500 branches.