SEC MOVES TO DISCIPLINE ALLEGHENY INT'L <AG> The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff is seeking authority to take enforcement action against Allegheny International Inc, the Pittsburgh-based industrial and consumer products firm said. Allegheny made the disclosure in documents filed with the SEC in connection with its recent agreement to be taken private through a leveraged buyout led by First Boston Inc. "Following announcement of the merger agreement, the company was informed by the Enforcement Division of the (SEC) that it intends to seek authority from the commission to institute a proceeding against the company," Allegheny said. "The company is cooperating in the commission's investigation which is continuing and now includes the taking of testimony of employes and others," Allegheny said. In the ongoing probe, Allegheny said, the staff has asked for information about company executive compensation and benefit plans, certain company-owned real estate, travel and entertainment spending and the use of corporate aircraft. It also has asked for information on acquisitions and divestitures, the company's accounting system "and other internal controls," Allegheny said. The probe began in February 1986, Allegheny said. The SEC, as a matter of policy, routinely declines comment on its enforcement actions. The SEC investigation began just months before Allegheny became the target of a series of shareholder lawsuits claiming that the company had violated the federal securities laws by failing to disclose material matters in recent annual proxy statements. The suits, later consolidated into a single class-action complaint before a Pennsylvania federal court, allege securities law violations involving numerous current and former Allegheny officers and directors. Earlier this month, lawyers for the shareholders asked the court to expand the charges to include an allegation that, in the buyout, Allegheny had attempted to illegally freeze out its public shareholders at an unfair price. Allegheny said it intends to vigorously defend itself against all charges. The charges made in the shareholder suits are widely believed to have led to last summer's resignation of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Buckley. In the buyout, a group led by First Boston tendered March 13 for all outstanding Allegheny shares at 24.60 dlrs a share.