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WASHINGTON: JULIE WILLIAMS, OCC chief counsel, says her agency wants to file a brief asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision preventing out-of-state institutions from charging fees to in-state customers. Page 2 BOTH COMMUNITY reinvestment and profitability are up at banks and thrifts owned by women or minorities, according to a study, and minority-owned institutions are growing in numbers and assets. Page 3 COMMUNITY BANKING: NATIONAL BANK of Commerce of Birmingham, Ala., scored a coup recently when it hired 13 disgruntled bond salesmen from neighboring giant AmSouth Bank. The defections mean that bond services for 200 to 300 community banks are up for grabs. Page 6 AMCORE FINANCIAL's second-quarter results will take a $3 million to $4 million hit for nonrecurring charges, but the Rockford, Ill., company still predicts a profit. Page 6 MORTGAGES: A RODMAN & RENSHAW analyst, Gareth Plank, believes "there's a strong chance of a new boom" in refinancings, perhaps $400 million to $500 million worth in the next 12 months. Page 10 METMOR FINANCIAL, the residential and commercial mortgage banking subsidiary of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., has put itself on the block. Metmor joins other insurance affiliates whose parents have decided to focus on core businesses, abandoning mortgage banking. Page 11 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: BANK CUSTOMERS in April were demanding investments with guaranteed returns - certificates of deposit and fixed annuities - as U.S. mutual fund sales grew 93.5% from the March total, while sales at many bank investment programs were flat. Page 12 JOHN I. SNOW is to take over Thursday as head of First NH Bank's brokerage affiliate, ending a two-year stint as coordinator for the city of Manchester, N.H. Page 12 TECHNOLOGY: CHECKFREE Corp., having arranged to scale back its exclusive processing agreement with MasterCard International, has been quietly positioning itself to sell its electronic bill payment processing services to the industry at large. Page 16

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