1.   Although Ungaro remains chairman and creative director of the house and couturier, he passed the reins for ready-to-wear to Valli last fall.

2.   Binder said in a statement he wanted to pass the reins to Sharer well before Amgen launches the new products it is developing.

3.   William V. Fries, the manager of USAA Mutual Aggressive Growth, has retired and passed the reins to two new co-managers, John Cabell and Eric Efron.

4.   Levin, who plans to retire in May, is passing the reins to co-chief operating officer Richard Parsons, who will become chief executive.

5.   Fifty years later, as her jubilee dawns, the sovereign has said she has no intention of passing the reins to her son.