MARKET SAVVY : SAVVY CONFIDENTIAL: A Briefing for Investors : Ticker Talk

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt told New York Stock Exchange officials Monday that their plan to convert to a public corporation doesn’t provide enough independence to the Big Board’s self-policing unit.

“I have a lot of reservations about it, serious reservations about the conflicts that spring from their plan,” Levitt said in an interview. Misgivings at the SEC, which must approve any NYSE move to go public, could delay the Big Board’s plan to move quickly toward an initial public offering, perhaps as early as November. Nasdaq also plans to convert from a nonprofit organization into a publicly traded company.