SECURITIES

SEC to Ease Rules on Small-Business Offerings: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. said the agency plans to revise two of its rules to give small businesses a break in raising much-needed capital. In a speech before a White House conference on small business, Levitt said the agency seeks to ease requirements on the sale of securities in private placements and increase the number of small companies that need not register or file financial statements with the agency. The initiatives form part of rule-making proposals the SEC will make later this month to spur small-business growth, he said. Levitt said the SEC plans to propose shortening the holding period for when a buyer of securities in a private placement can sell--to one year from the current two to three.