Today's News

WASHINGTON: STEVEN C. SUNSHINE, a deputy assistant U.S. attorney general who directs all merger reviews, says the rapidly consolidating banking industry should not worry that his department will stand in its way. "I don't expect antitrust to be a defining force in the marketplace," he says. Page 4 SHIFTING ITS position on a key issue, the thrift industry's main trade group, America's Community Bankers, wants its members to pay $6.1 billion this year to capitalize the Savings Association Insurance Fund. Page 2 REGIONAL BANKING: KAI S. NARGOLWALA, head of BankAmerica's Asian wholesale group, has resigned, effective at the end of this month, and will be replaced by the head of the European wholesale group. Mr. Nargolwala said he was quitting for personal reasons unrelated to his or his unit's performance. Page 5 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MASSACHUSETTS Financial Services is out to persuade bank brokerage customers that international mutual funds have a place in their portfolios. The mutual fund company will begin marketing through banks three equity funds that invest solely in stocks issued outside the United States. Page 9 SMALL BUSINESS: NATIONSBANK has joined the growing number of banks offering PC-based account services for small-business customers. Last month, it began marketing Business Express/PC in all nine states where it does business. Page 11 COMMUNITY BANKING: ABOUT 200 of California's smallest banks are fighting to exempt the California Bankers Association group health insurance plan from the health care reform the state enacted last year. Page 14 ASSET-LIABILITY models are complicated. Could the chief executive of a small or medium-size bank take time out to study the math behind them? A call to Elliot Rosen, president of Sendero Corp., convinced columnist Paul Nadler that you don't need to know anything about these models to get the best out of them. Page 15 MORTGAGES: LENDERS ARE increasingly shunning the securitization of home equity loans in favor of selling them whole, according to market sources. Loans to borrowers with blemished credit are also being sold whole. Page 16 A BURST OF ENERGY is expected in the mortgage industry in response to the Federal Reserve's decision Thursday to cut the federal funds rate from 6% to 5.75%. Many lenders adjusted interest rates the day of the Fed announcement. Page 17 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: MASTERCARD International has broadened the services available through the World Wide Web site it created this spring on the Internet. Consumers will be able to use MasterCard's home page, called Pointers, to apply for credit cards or seek information about MasterCards from four banks. Page 18

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