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WASHINGTON: MAKING GOOD on its promise to protest defections from the thrift insurance fund, the American Bankers Association has attacked Great Western's application to charter two national banks. In an 11-page objection to the plan, it asks the OCC for a hearing. Page 2 THE SUPREME COURT has asked the solicitor general's advice on whether it should allow federal courts to resolve bounced-check disputes between banks. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: 'REINVENTING RETAIL,' for First Union Corp., means selling investment products, president John R. Georgius told a conference on retail banking. Page 5 FINANCE: MICHAEL L. MAYO of Lehman Brothers cut his investment ratings on shares of First Bank System and NBD Bancorp, based on their strong first-quarter price performance. "I would rather be in Barnett Banks and Banc One, which have more upside potential at this point," he said. Back page MORTGAGES: ORIGINATIONS fell by less than 25% last year, to $774 billion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. The decline was surprisingly mild. Page 6 TRANSAMERICA Financial Services has completed the purchase of $1.03 billion of home equity loans from ITT Consumer Financial Corp. The deal was a major expansion of Transamerica's home equity lending operation. Page 7 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: A THREAT by South Carolina regulators to shut down NationsSecurities operations in the state is expected to embolden other states in their regulation of bank brokerages. Page 8 FLEET INVESTMENT Services promoted seven executives in the investment and trust unit that oversees a wide range of personal financial services to the affluent offered through 20 offices in New York and New England. Page 9 COMMUNITY BANKING: COMMUNITY BANK System has asked a New York State judge to dismiss a plaintiff in a shareholder lawsuit and reject a request for a preliminary injunction to block the company's acquisition of 15 Chase Manhattan branches in upstate New York. Page 10 THE TEXAS SENATE has stalled a bill to opt out of interstate branching that passed the state House last month. The Senate has linked its action on the opt-out to House consideration of a Senate bill to repeal the state's venerable ban on home equity lending. And the House is now refusing to consider any bill that originated in the Senate. Page 11 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: FIRST UNION National Bank of Florida is testing an unusual chip card system from NRS Financial Systems that identifies customers as they walk into a branch. The system helps tellers greet customers by name even if their faces are unfamiliar. Page 12 VISA U.S.A. said Synapsys Inc. has vaulted ahead of other third-party processors by developing a system for its commercial-card program that exceeds certification standards for 1995 and 1996. Page 13 TECHNOLOGY: CLIENT/SERVER core systems were installed in the first financial institutions in 1994 and, right now, are available only as an in-house option. But as the technology matures and the market deepens, you can look for service-bureau offerings by early 1996, writes consultant Marilyn Seymann and her co-authors. Page 14

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