Today's News

SPECIAL REPORT: A 12-PAGE section on home banking explores the competitive threats posed by nonbanks and the merits of various delivery channels, including personal computers, telephones, and interactive television. Section begins after page 10. WASHINGTON: NONE OF THE 325 state-chartered savings associations eligible since April 19 to leave the Federal Home Loan Bank System has given any indication that it plans to do so, according to the system's regulator. Page 2 THE HOUSE Commerce Committee begins hearings on Glass-Steagall legislation next week, and by the time the panel finishes, the hearing room could look like a combat zone. Banks and insurers are the principal combatants. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: MEXICAN ACQUISITIONS are being considered by a number of U.S. banks since the change in investment laws south of the border, a senior Fed analyst. Page 4 BANK OF NEW YORK agreed to buy the corporate trust business of NationsBank - hard on the heels of two major acquisitions in the securities processing and global custody business. Page 4 MORTGAGES: PRUDENTIAL Home Mortgage, the largest mortgage company ever put on the auction block, is attracting interest from at least three potential bidders: GE Capital Services, AT&T, and an unnamed venture capital concern. Page 8 REVIVING the Federal Housing Administration as a government-owned corporation, which the Clinton administration wants to do, gained support in a report by a Harvard University study center. Page 9 COMMUNITY BANKING: MARYLAND FEDERAL Bancorp's stock is drifting back to planet Earth after reaching a record high of $35 a share last week. Analysts and a company official attributed the run-up to a flurry of acquisitions in the Washington-Baltimore market. Page 10 MANY BANKS will be getting acquisition bids as the current consolidation wave sweeps the industry, and Jeff K. Davis offers directors tips on how to satisfy their fiduciary obligations while evaluating bids. Page 11 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: VISA INTERNATIONAL, MasterCard International, and Europay International said they are on schedule to complete specifications for chip-embedded smart cards this month. Page 12 ANNE-L. COBB - the first woman chief executive of an international bank card association as president of Visa's newly created region covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa - faces one of the industry's most daunting tasks: establishing Visa and its services in some of the world's least developed economies. Page 13