Smith Barney Co

Citigroup's Smith Barney brokerage unit has agreed to pay $98 million to settle claims on behalf of thousands of current and former brokers who said they were owed overtime pay and other reimbursements. The proposed settlement is the latest and largest by securities firms that claimed brokers were exempt from state and federal overtime laws because they are salaried, administrative employees.

Citigroup's Smith Barney brokerage unit has agreed to pay $98 million to settle claims on behalf of thousands of current and former brokers who said they were owed overtime pay and other reimbursements. The proposed settlement is the latest and largest by securities firms that claimed brokers were exempt from state and federal overtime laws because they are salaried, administrative employees.

Smith Barney, one of Wall Street's oldest and best-known investment firms, said Wednesday that it has agreed to a $750-million takeover offer from Primerica, a company run by former mutual fund guru Gerald Tsai Jr. and which until last month was called American Can.

One current and three former female brokers sued Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney unit Thursday, accusing the brokerage of discriminating against them and other female employees. The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims that Smith Barney steered accounts to male brokers and gave women fewer opportunities to increase their commissions.

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.

Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. confirmed that it dismissed five top executives in an effort to reduce costs in its public finance division. Among those let go were Edward Tirrel, Oscar Carlson, Michael Cherry and James Williams, all managing directors, and J. Dale Lehman, a vice president, a company official said Tuesday. The official said 110 employees remain in the public finance department.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into whether several of Wall Street's biggest investment houses are failing to weed out stockbrokers who repeatedly cheat individual investors. Seven brokerage firms confirmed Friday that they have received official letters of inquiry from the SEC, which took the action following a series of stories in The Times earlier this month on abuses in the retail brokerage industry.

One current and three former female brokers sued Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney unit Thursday, accusing the brokerage of discriminating against them and other female employees. The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims that Smith Barney steered accounts to male brokers and gave women fewer opportunities to increase their commissions.

Smith Barney has reached a tentative deal to settle a sex-harassment lawsuit probably best known for its allegations of a "boom boom room" in a branch office's basement where male workers engaged in lewd fraternity-house antics. The disclosure was made in federal court Thursday by lawyers for the New York-based brokerage firm and the 26 former and current female workers who claimed they were subjected to obscene behavior by brokers and managers for years.

Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. has become the second brokerage firm investigating possible involvement of California employees in the growing Business Week scandal. The firm confirmed Tuesday that it is conducting an internal investigation of a California office amid reports that a sales assistant and a broker may have made trades similar to those of an active customer who had information about stock tips to be published in the magazine's "Inside Wall Street" column.

Smith Barney has reached a tentative deal to settle a sex-harassment lawsuit probably best known for its allegations of a "boom boom room" in a branch office's basement where male workers engaged in lewd fraternity-house antics. The disclosure was made in federal court Thursday by lawyers for the New York-based brokerage firm and the 26 former and current female workers who claimed they were subjected to obscene behavior by brokers and managers for years.

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.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun an inquiry into whether several of Wall Street's biggest investment houses are failing to weed out stockbrokers who repeatedly cheat individual investors. Seven brokerage firms confirmed Friday that they have received official letters of inquiry from the SEC, which took the action following a series of stories in The Times earlier this month on abuses in the retail brokerage industry.

Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. confirmed that it dismissed five top executives in an effort to reduce costs in its public finance division. Among those let go were Edward Tirrel, Oscar Carlson, Michael Cherry and James Williams, all managing directors, and J. Dale Lehman, a vice president, a company official said Tuesday. The official said 110 employees remain in the public finance department.

Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. has become the second brokerage firm investigating possible involvement of California employees in the growing Business Week scandal. The firm confirmed Tuesday that it is conducting an internal investigation of a California office amid reports that a sales assistant and a broker may have made trades similar to those of an active customer who had information about stock tips to be published in the magazine's "Inside Wall Street" column.

Smith Barney, one of Wall Street's oldest and best-known investment firms, said Wednesday that it has agreed to a $750-million takeover offer from Primerica, a company run by former mutual fund guru Gerald Tsai Jr. and which until last month was called American Can.

Discount retailer ShopKo Stores said Tuesday that it will no longer sell tobacco products in its 130 department stores. Terry McDonald, a senior vice president at ShopKo, which operates stores in 15 states from Wisconsin to Oregon, cited a steady decline in cigarette sales, which account for less than 1% of the chain's revenue. ShopKo, which has no stores in California, becomes the second mass retailer to banish tobacco from its shelves.

Stephen A. Koffler, 62, an investment banker who engineered the leveraged buyout of Jenny Craig Inc. and handled Roy Disney's financing of L.A. Gear Inc., died of cancer Friday in Los Angeles. Born in Providence, R.I., Koffler earned a doctorate in solid-state physics and material science engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. But he chose a career in finance, working on Wall Street and then moving to California as senior financial executive of Mattel Inc.