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Bush to propose post-Enron limits on stock sales

US President George W Bush on Friday will propose barring executives from selling stock during 'blackout' periods like the one that kept Enron Corp workers from bailing out while the company's shares plunged last year, a senior White House official has said.

Bush will unveil a series of pension reforms Friday at a Republican Party retreat, a venue that underscores his party's concern that the collapse of the Houston-based energy trader and top Bush political contributor could hurt the President and his party in the November 5 congressional elections.

Congressional and federal officials are investigating whether Enron misled investors about its accounts, leading to its Decemebr 2 bankruptcy, and whether executives sold stock when employees were blocked from doing so during a blackout period while their 401(k) (pension) plan changed administrators.

Bush's proposals would require workers receive 30 days notice before the start of such blackout periods and that they be allowed to sell company stock that they receive in employer contributions and to diversify once they have participated in their company's 401(k) plan for three years.

The proposals, outlined by the white house official, would also make companies liable for losses as a result of workers' inability to trade during a blackout period if the employer violated its duty to act in the workers' interest when it created the blackout period. The official said the white house would work with the Congress to translate the reforms into law.

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