Member of NYSE Charged in Dispute Over Archipelago

A 32-year member of the New York Stock Exchange was charged yesterday with making a death threat to another NYSE seat holder who is suing the exchange to block its purchase of Archipelago.Edward Reiss, 65, turned himself in to the New York Police Department at the Midtown North Precinct in Manhattan and was released after aggravated harassment charges were filed. The NYPD has been investigating a death threat made last month in a voicemail against William Higgins.Mr. Higgins, along with three other NYSE members, filed a lawsuit in May to block the Big Board’s acquisition. The proposed takeover of Archipelago would convert the 213-year-old institution into a for-profit public company and has lifted prices of NYSE memberships as high as a record $3 million.“I am grateful for the swift, professional work by the New York City Police Department,” Mr. Higgins said in a statement. “In spite of any efforts to discredit or intimidate me and fellow Exchange members opposed to the terms of the merger, we will continue to mount our challenge legally in court.”Mr. Reiss, an NYSE member since 1973, was an independent broker on the floor of the exchange starting in 1984. Mr. Reiss has been fined on at least four occasions for indecorous behavior on the floor, according to NYSE regulatory reports. The latest incident was in 1996, when he was penalized $5,000 for making “profane and indecorous” statements to two floor specialists for allegedly mishandling an order, filings show. He was fined $10,000 in 2001 for improper trading practices.Mr. Higgins was threatened in a July 19 voicemail message left for his lawyer Jay Eisenhofer, founder of Grant & Eisenhofer. “Mr. Eisenhofer, you better tell Mr. Higgins [that] if this deal doesn’t go through, he better have somebody start his car because he is out of his mind,” the voicemail said, according to Mr. Higgins. “We were sucking wind with no bids for the seats and no money for the lease. Now we got money, and he wants more?”

Member of NYSE Charged in Dispute Over Archipelago

Member of NYSE Charged in Dispute Over Archipelago

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