Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING:

ROBUST GROWTH in consumer lending helped Barnett Banks raise profits 9% in third quarter. "A lot of banks have talked about hitting the revenue wall," said chief financial officer Charles Newman. "We've had continued revenue growth."

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U.S. BANCORP and West One have listed 31 branches they'd sell to clear antitrust obstacles to their merger plan.

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WASHINGTON:

119 EMPLOYEES of the four federal banking agencies will take in more than $150,000 in salary and bonuses this year, according to salary data provided in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by American Banker. Page 3

COMMUNITY BANKING:

CRITICISM OF THE SPREADS imposed by Nasdaq's market makers is pushing some conversion-minded mutual thrifts into the arms of the equity market's also-ran, the American Stock Exchange.

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A MISSOURI MUTUAL has come under attack by a well-known professional depositor. Jerome Davis' usual strategy is to open an account, push for conversion, and then push for sale.

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COMPLIANCE:

QUOTES FROM THE FAMOUS and profound line the walls of Irwin Professional Publishers, which puts out the BankLine books and manuals. The idea is to inspire the editors. "We're dealing with professionals, not professional writers," says one. Page 8

DESPITE COMPTROLLER Eugene A. Ludwig's comments that draft Community Reinvestment Act exam procedures are being junked, parts of the controversial guidelines are expected to survive.

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MORTGAGES:

FOLLOWING THE LEAD of other large lenders, a unit of GE Capital will be entering the B and C loan arena this month. Page 12

TECHNOLOGY: A SILICON VALLEY START-UP has rolled out a PC-based foreign exchange service for small and midsize companies. Page 16

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:

THE MARKET for public-sector retirement plans has been dominated for years by products from specialized firms and insurance companies. But many banks are now jumping in with what they say is an edge: bank-run mutual funds. Page 13

U.S. TRUST CORP. has lost its appeal of a lower court's decision ousting the bank as a co-executor of tobacco heiress Doris Duke's $1.2billion estate. Page 13

FINANCE:

SOME ANALYSTS foresee a quick and painful consolidation of the subprime auto lending business in the wake of a bankruptcy filing by eight securitization companies owned by Search Capital Group, Dallas.

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