July 28, 2000

Floyd Norris comment on Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt's proposal to enact new rules to increase independence of auditors from their corporate clients; holds major accounting firms Arthur Andersen, Deloitte & Touch and KPMG are determined to fight new SEC proposal; suggests compromise that lets auditors continue to do more information-technology consulting than SEC seems to want, but with safeguards and fuller disclosures; notes in 1957, Arthur Andersen managing partner Leonard Spacek warned that 'the profession's existence is in peril' because it was not showing enough independence; photo (M)

Postal Service acknowledges delays of month or more in certified mail deliveries; postmasters in several states say failure to assign enough workers and problems installing new computer system for tracking certified mail have led to pileups of letters, many of which contain checks and important documents requring timely delivery; in New York City, property tax payments from hundreds of tax payers sat in Church Street post office in Manhattan from mid-June to mid-July; photo (M)

New York Mets defeat Montreal Expos, 9-8 and 4-3 in doubleheader; photo (M)

Corning Inc and Nortel Networks end talks that would have combined their fiber optic operations (M)

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column discusses performance of pitcher Grant Roberts in his debut with New York Mets; photo (M)