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REP. JOHN LaFALCE, taking the first legislative crack at the issue, has proposed 12 separate ways to fix the insurance fund backing thrift deposits. Page 2 THE CHAIRMAN of the House Banking Committee has blasted a regulatory proposal that could allow bank subsidiaries to underwrite securities. Page 2 SMALL BUSINESS: FACTORING FIRMS like Reserve Capital Corp. are filling a void left by banks reluctant to invest the considerable amount of capital required by the high-risk form of credit. Page 5 THE SALE of ITT Small Business Finance to General Electric Capital Corp. has suddenly turned St. Louis into a hub for lending backed by the Small Business Administration. Page 5 MORTGAGES: KEYCORP, which just weeks ago gutted its traditional mortgage business, is forming a finance company to make home equity loans to people with blemished credit histories. Page 6 THE HARTFORD, Conn., metropolitan area had the nation's highest delinquency rate at yearend on home loans originated in 1994. Page 6 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: CITICORP is preparing a wrap product that will break with the traditional practice of paying sales commissions to brokers. Page 8 A SMALL Illinois banking company has big plans for gaining nationwide distribution of its proprietary mutual funds. Page 8 COMMUNITY BANKING: A BANK in tiny Tabor, Iowa, with $17 million of assets recently took a step that could signal the future of correspondent banking. Page 10 TECHNOLOGY: LONG ISLAND Savings Bank has completed a platform automation project aimed at improving service in the bank's investment and loan areas. Page 14 AFTER YEARS of slow growth, electronic check presentment is poised for an explosion, according to attendees of a recent check processing conference. Page 16 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: SCORE ONE for deposed SafeCard Services Inc. boss Peter Halmos in his ongoing legal slugfest with the regime that ousted him more than two years ago. Page 18 FINANCE: WESTERN BANK last week called off its proposed long-distance acquisition of Pacific Bank, concluding a chapter in an unusual community banking story. Back page AN ANALYST at Dean Witter initiated coverage of Boatmen's Bancshares with an "accumulate" rating, touting the St. Louis-based bank's hefty fee income and conservative lending policies. Back page

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