WASHINGTON:
THE FEDERAL Deposit Insurance Corp. is poised to abandon its 59-year-old system of basing insurance rates on a bank's total domestic deposits. Page 2
WEST VIRGINIA's Supreme Court of Appeals has made business safer for derivatives dealers, in a decision whose influence could both benefit and hurt the banking industry. Page 3
REGIONAL BANKING:
ROY CARLSON has found that there is life after BCCI.
The former banker, who helped found the Bank of Credit and Commerce International - but was not implicated in the scandal that brought it down - is now running a firm that helps U.S. companies collect on their Iranian debts. Page 6
WELLS FARGO & Co. has been singled out by analysts as a leader in alternative delivery of banking services, but in the second quarter that spending finally began to take its toll. Wells' noninterest expenses rose 3% - more than analysts had expected - to $560 million. Page 4
COMMUNITY BANKING:
WSFS FINANCIAL Corp., the second-biggest financial institution based in Delaware, may be putting itself on the block. Page 7
A TENACIOUS new Baltimore community bank has begun its promised expansion plan - establishing branches in at least four supermarkets in the Baltimore area. Page 7
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:
EDWARD D. JONES & Co. has come a long way from the spring of 1994 when it first approached federal regulators about the possibility of buying a small Missouri thrift. Indeed, a regulator's opinion it sought may offer a blueprint for other brokerage firms interested in expanding their banking activities through thrifts. Page 9
IN THE LATEST acquisition by a bank of an investment management firm, Keystone Financial Inc. has agreed to acquire Philadelphia-based Martindale Andres & Co. for an undisclosed sum. Page 9
MORTGAGES:
HE MIGHT BE relatively unknown in the home lending industry, but the new head of National Westminster Bancorp's mortgage unit does not intend to stay that way. Page 10
THE DEBATE over low-income lending is heating up. A prominent advocacy group has challenged Freddie Mac's assertions about the poor performance of some of its loans to low-income borrowers. Page 10
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
IDEON GROUP INC. announced plans to revamp its floundering PGA Tour Partners credit card and cut 27% of its work force, resulting in a $34.2 million writedown. Page 14
ELECTRONIC BANKING veteran Howard Mandelbaum has joined Hypercom Inc. as director of smart card strategic planning and initiatives. Page 14
TECHNOLOGY:
RESPONDING to persistent requests from corporate users, the National Automated Clearing House Association has modified a longstanding operational requirement known as the prenotification rule. Page 16
FINANCE:
IN AN ACTION criticized by some credit card experts as overly harsh, Standard & Poor's Ratings Group has revised its long-term outlook on MBNA Corp. to "negative" from "stable." Back page
LESS THAN a year after their worst public relations fears exploded into front page news, derivatives dealers are on the offensive and looking to stave off more stringent regulation. Page 22
