At the Bell

AmEx adviser unit to cut staff by 20%

* Of the 5,000 job cuts that New York’s American Express Co. announced last week, about 20% will occur at American Express Financial Advisors, the conglomerate’s financial planning unit.

According to Tom Joyce, a company spokesman, the Minneapolis-based subsidiary will cut between 800 and 1,000 jobs by Sept. 30 of next year through attrition and a “re-engineering program” that places an emphasis on technology to replace personnel. Most of the cuts will come from client services and from technology-related areas, he says.

The company, scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings today, also announced an $826 million pretax write-down and sale from the company’s high-yield-bond portfolio.

For the second quarter in a row, the company is saying it has taken steps to remedy the overexposure to junk bonds. It had to write down $182 million in the first quarter.

“We think we’ve taken very aggressive steps to rebalance the portfolio from a risk-reward standpoint,” Mr. Joyce said. He added that since 1997, the company’s high-yield exposure has hovered around 11% of the portfolio, while the industry standard has been closer to 7%.

Senate set to OK Pitt as SEC chief

* Harvey Pitt last week looked like a slam-dunk to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Even Democrats at the Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination by President Bush seemed certain of his confirmation, and they gave him accolades as being one of the best-qualified candidates ever.

“He is without question the most talented and respected securities lawyer in the United States today,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who introduced Mr. Pitt, a fellow Brooklynite. “He could rightfully be called a Zeus in his field.”

Mr. Pitt is a securities lawyer in the Washington office of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson. He said at the hearing that he wanted to undertake a thorough review of SEC regulations, including the controversial fair-disclosure requirements that affect analysts. He would not tip his hand about what conclusions he might draw on issues, however.

Asked about the controversial SEC proposal that would allow registered representatives to avoid registering as investment advisers as long as they don’t take discretion over assets, Mr. Pitt said after the hearing, “I know the financial planners have a very strong set of views, and I think they’re entitled to very careful consideration.”

The committee will vote on his nomination Tuesday.