Today's News

TECHNOLOGY: ELLIOT MCENTEE, president and CEO of the National Automated Clearing House Association says the group's new Electronic Check Council is charged with "developing and implementing a system . . . that will make check conversion at the point of sale a reality." Page 18 WASHINGTON: COMPTROLLER of the Currency Eugene A. Ludwig told lawmakers that bank regulators are unlikely to finish revising the Community Reinvestment Act until mid-April - two weeks after the deadline set by Vice President Gore. Page 2 CHASE MANHATTAN's bid to buy U.S. Trust's securities processing business has run into a CRA protest. Page 3 COMMUNITY BANKING: CITFED BANCORP officials hope the acquisition of PSB Holdings will be the key to one of Ohio's great demographic bounties. Page 6 COMPLIANCE: THE ABA's Judith Knight wants to convince all bankers that community reinvestment is good business - not a compliance nightmare. Page 8 IN AN EFFORT to curb money laundering, the Federal Reserve is urging U.S. banks to keep closer tabs on customers who set up checking accounts through foreign institutions. Page 8 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: BANKS THAT SELL mutual funds through a combination of brokers and licensed branch employees see dramatically better results than banks that rely on a single sales force, a study has found. Page 12 MORTGAGES: THE PACE of consolidation in the mortgage industry quickened in the past month - and the momentum may well carry into the spring. Page 14 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: FAR FROM BEING just a card transaction processor, National Data Corp. processed more than half a billion health care claims in 1994 and expects dramatic increases as further automation hits the industry. Page 17 FINANCE: AN EARLY RALLY in bank stocks faltered after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that the plummeting value of the U.S. dollar is "troublesome" and could ignite inflation. Back page THE ANNOUNCEMENT that PNC Bank Corp. has won the bidding for Chemical's 84 New Jersey branches left many experts wondering what happened to early favorite First Fidelity, which didn't make it to the final round. Back page REGIONAL BANKING: PRETAX EARNINGS for Barclays Bank PLC in the United States posted a sharp turnaround in 1994, rising to $379.2 million after a loss of $880 million in 1993. Page 4 WACHOVIA CORP. has joined banking's cost-cutting craze, even though it's already one of the most efficient banks in the nation. Page 4 BANK OF NEW YORK has agreed to acquire Hibernia's municipal bond administration business for an undisclosed sum. Page 5

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