WASHINGTON, DC — President George W. Bush has ordered the Treasury, Commerce, and Labor Departments to look into the rules governing pension and 401(k) plans and recommend changes that would protect workers from losing their retirement savings in a corporate bankruptcy filing, similar to the collapse of Enron.

The announcement came the same day the White House revealed that Kenneth Lay, chief executive officer of Enron, had been in contact with two members of the president’s Cabinet just weeks before the firm declared bankruptcy and had informed them of the company’s serious financial difficulties.

Publication date: 01/07/2002