WR Lazard & Co. executives have agreed to a New York City Bureau of Asset Management request for an independent audit of the money management firm. The Bureau of Asset Management, which oversees the pension funds for city employees, is concerned Lazard might be affected by the financial problems of its broker/dealer parent.
In April, the report of an independent auditor that reviewed the finances of the money manager's broker/dealer parent - WR Lazard, Laidlaw & Luther - raised ``substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.''
``To have an extra level of comfort, we wanted an independent audit of the asset management side,'' said John Lukomnik, deputy comptroller, investments.
``Any client that wants to take a look at us, we want to comply with their requests,'' said Marianne Spraggins, CEO at WR Lazard. ``We will be making every effort internally to satisfy their questions and to assure they have confidence in our going forward.''
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, writing on behalf of some $50 billion in Teamsters-related pension funds that own Texaco stock, condemned the reported racial slurs by Texaco executives and called for specific recommendations involving Texaco's board of directors. The letter calls for non-management directors to select a new independent firm with expertise in civil rights to investigate the racial case and for the entire board to consider making directors more directly accountable for misdeeds.
