Of particular concern to Pitt are IPO allocation practices and the roles of issuers and underwriters in the price setting and offering process.

At issue is how Wall Street firms doled out shares of hot stock offerings during the 1990s. Regulators have been investigating whether investment firms charged customers larger than normal trading commissions.

The IPO allocation scandals began to put a squeeze on investor confidence even before the recent wave of corporate management and accounting malfeasance.

In a letter to the NASD and the NYSE, Pitt requested that they create a committee to study the IPO process. He wants to determine if additional rulemaking that is currently under discussion by the groups is sufficient.

www.TheDeal.com

The Deal.com Charting the Deal Economy. Definitive information for the M&A, VC, Private Equity and IPO community