WASHINGTON, July 4: President George W. Bush’s own past business record was under public scrutiny Thursday just days before he was to issue a stern warning to Wall Street on the need for corporate responsibility.

Bush’s pre-presidential dealings as a Texas oilman, which resulted in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, have resurfaced in the wake of massive business scandals that have rocked the country’s economy.

The president has laboured to put as much distance as possible between himself and the apparent fraud that brought down energy giant Enron and troubling revelations dogging communications titan WorldCom.

But questions over his stock transactions of over a decade ago have resurfaced, specifically his failure to promptly disclose stock sales.

According to SEC documents, Bush filed four separate Harken Energy Corp stock transactions totalling more than one million dollars between 15-34 weeks late in 1990 and 1991 when he was director of the troubled company.

On August 20, 1990, Harken announced it had sustained a loss for its quarter ended June 30, 1990, of more than 23 million dollars, sending its stock sharply down on the markets, according to SEC documents posted by the Center for Public Integrity.

Bush sold 848,560 dollars worth of shares in the company on June 22, 1990, but filed the transaction only on March 4, 1991.

The White House has played down the stock sale flap, blaming lawyers instead. —AFP