LAW & REGULATION

Report on RTC’s Cooke Denied: A spokesman for L. William Seidman, director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., denied published reports that, Resolution Trust Corp. director David C. Cooke would be fired at the behest of the Bush Administration in response to growing criticism in Congress of the Savings & Loan cleanup effort. The Administration has long been unhappy with Cooke, feeling he lacks the expertise to oversee the sale of billions of dollars in assets held by the RTC. Seidman, the architect of the cleanup effort, is expected in Senate testimony today to discuss the possibility that a restructured RTC could be headed by a chief executive with broad financial experience, which could lead to the eventual replacement of Cooke, sources said. The Administration, which has raised its estimate of the cost of the S&L; cleanup to $160 billion, will ask Congress next week for billions of dollars to continue the job. Legislators have given the agency $80 billion since its creation in August, 1989. Seidman spokesman Alan Whitney said Seidman believes that “Cooke and the senior staff are doing a very credible job under trying circumstances.”