Today's News

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MICHAEL W. CATON, president of Crescent Bank and Trust Co. in rural Georgia, is taking the $50 million-asset institution to the next level by adding a trust department. Page 8 A MYSTERY SHOPPING test by the Bank Securities Association showed a "high degree of compliance and professionalism" among banks that sell investment products. Page 9 WASHINGTON: WITH THE PROSPECT of paying six times more for deposit insurance than banks, thrifts are looking for any way out of the Savings Association Insurance Fund. Page 2 THE CHAIRMAN of City National Bank of Greeley, Neb., is lobbying Congress to change the estate tax laws and working with farmers and other customers to help them prepare their estates. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: PNC BANK CORP. is caught in a tangle of litigation over a failed real estate venture by a Pennsylvania bank it acquired last summer. Page 4 WILLARD BUNN 3d, who resigned at the end of last year as chairman of Banc One Corp.'s Illinois holding company, will spread his wings as an investment banker with Chicago Corp. Page 4 BENEFICIAL NATIONAL Bank is not expected to run into significant problems in its tax-refund loan program, now that the riskiest part - lending in anticipation of earned-income tax credit refunds - has been halted. Page 4 COMMUNITY BANKING: A group of West Coast bankers, seeking to capitalize on the antiregulatory climate in Washington, is pushing for federal legislation to exempt minority banks from the Community Reinvestment Act. Page 6 THE GEORGIA HOUSE has shelved a Senate bill that would have allowed state- chartered banks to branch into neighboring counties. Page 6 MORTGAGES: RESIDENTIAL Funding Corp., Minneapolis, has developed software to help small and midsize lenders handle all facets of their business, from originations to pipeline management. Page 11 FIRST EMPIRE State Corp. has wrapped up its acquisition of Statewide Funding Corp., an Albany, N.Y.-based mortgage bank. Page 11 TECHNOLOGY: TREASURY SERVICES Corp. is near completion of an asset-liability management system designed specifically for a massively parallel processing platform from AT&T Global Information Solutions Corp. Page 16 A NEW YORK consulting firm believes it can help bridge the communication gap that separates many trading desks from their back offices. Page 16 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: Life would be a lot harder without automated teller machines, said consumers polled by AT&T Global Information Solutions. Page 12 VISA INTERNATIONAL, vying with MasterCard for market share in China and six lucrative card processing projects there, has appointed a Chinese bank executive to its Asia-Pacific board. Page 12 FINANCE: BANK STOCKS were scorched Tuesday as investors' concerns with the U.S. dollar's sharp devaluation continued to hammer the financial markets. Page 24