AMSTERDAM BOURSE SAID DELAYING DREXEL MEMBERSHIP
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange today
declined to comment on a press report saying Drexel Burnham
Lambert Inc's request for membership had been delayed pending
investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
    The Exchange was replying to Reuters inquiries after the
leading Dutch evening daily NRC Handelsblad published a report
this evening quoting an unnamed bourse official as saying
Drexel's application was delayed while the firm was under
investigation by the SEC.
    It usually takes the bourse one to two months to process a
membership application, the official said, adding: "It's been
going on for three to four months with Drexel, so draw your own
conclusions."
   "We're not particularly worried about the contents of the
application but we think the timing is somewhat unfortunate,"
the NRC quoted the official as saying.
   Drexel is currently under investigation by the SEC in
connection with insider trading activities by Ivan Boesky and
Dennis Levine last November, a month after the company applied
for permission to deal in Dutch equity.
   An exchange spokesman said there was nothing unusual about
the processing period of Drexel's application, adding that he
would not comment on any company before all documents had been
studied by the bourse board.
   A spokesman from Drexel's London branch, which is dealing
with the application, said the delay was of a purely technical
nature in Drexel's head office in New York.
 Reuter
