Today's News

MORTGAGES: A BRISK REBOUND is under way in the mortgage industry, and economists believe it could persist until midyear. The biggest influence is a steady decline in both short-term and long-term mortgage rates since Dec. 31. Page 16 FANNIE MAE has simplified the way it classifies adjustable-rate mortgage securities, a move it hopes will make its loans more competitive. Page 17 WASHINGTON: SEN. ALFONSE D'AMATO introduced legislation last week that would limit lenders' liability for cleaning up contaminated property. Page 2 CITIZENS BANK of Maryland is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide how far the industry can go to ensure that bankrupt customers pay off their loans. Page 3 COMMUNITY BANKING: NORTH DAKOTA's two main bank trade groups have buried a history of legislative clashes, compromised on interstate branching, and agreed to fight one of the state's biggest banks on the issue. Page 8 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: THE FED's latest increase in short-term interest rates is adding more fuel to the already hot market for certificates of deposit, bankers said in a round of interviews last week. Page 12 PETER LYNCH, former portfolio manager of Fidelity Investments' Magellan Fund, the world's largest equity fund, says people are remarkably ignorant about how the stock market works but that banks could play a role in educating the public. Page 13 SMALL BUSINESS: WHEN SIGNET Banking Corp. decided to market retirement plans to small businesses, it chose to get into the market as quickly as possible by hiring Kemper Financial Services and using its small business 401(k) plan. Page 18 THE GREENLINE program was expected to generate $1 billion of loans in the first year after its introduction by the Small Business Administration, but so far, that predictions has been about 1% correct. Page 19 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: CARD ISSUERS are partly to blame for consumers' growing distrust of how information about them is used, according to a survey commissioned by MasterCard International Inc. Page 20 PRETAX EARNINGS at Providian Bancorp equaled 40% of the operating profits last year of its parent, the Louisville, Ky.-based insurance holding company Providian Corp. Page 21 TECHNOLOGY: KEEFE, BRUYETTE & Woods Inc., making its first investment banking foray into banking technology, is managing a private equity offering for Online Resources and Communications Corp. Page 22 A TASK FORCE has formally asked the Federal Reserve System to modify its operating rules in order to place three private-sector automated clearing house operators on a more equal footing with the central bank. Page 23 REGIONAL BANKING: ROGER GOLDMAN, a former consultant who specializes in consumer and middle- market banking strategies, is leading National Westminster Bancorp.'s effort to beef up a retail and community banking presence in Manhattan. Page 4 TARGETING what it believes is a growing business, J.P. Morgan & Co. is bringing so-called Yankee bonds to the U.S. market on behalf of foreign corporations. Page 6 FINANCE: INVESTORS are beginning to shop for bargains in the depressed shares of thrift institutions, now that short-term interest rates may be near a peak. Back page