Business Notes WALL STREET

When anyone at Drexel Burnham Lambert talks, the Government may soon be listening. Last week the investment firm said it would submit to unprecedented federal supervision as part of an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges of insider trading and stock fraud. The deal will enable Drexel to proceed with a separate settlement of criminal charges, first announced last December, for which the firm will pay $650 million in fines.

Drexel's pact with the SEC, which must be approved by a federal judge, will allow the firm to close the book on a 2 1/2-year federal probe. But the price is high. The agreement puts Drexel on probation for three years and requires it to set up an oversight committee. The firm is also naming a new chairman, former SEC head John Shad, to succeed Drexel's Robert Linton. As expected, the deal forces Drexel to cut all ties to its former junk-bond king, Michael Milken, who is facing separate criminal charges of racketeering and securities fraud. Last week Milken agreed to set aside assets of at least $600 million, which could be forfeited if he is found guilty.