Today's News

COMMUNITY BANKING: RICHARD A. McNEECE, chairman and CEO of First National Bancorp, Georgia's third-largest independent bank, is stepping down because of a lack of support from some shareholders. Page 6 VALLEY COMMERCE Bank opened in Phoenix last week, becoming the first start- up bank in Arizona in 10 years. Page 6 WASHINGTON: THE FEDERAL Reserve Board has released a supervisory letter that completes the shift of foreign bank supervision from state to national regulators. Page 3 ANOTHER trade group has joined the battle against the Independent Insurance Agents of America and legislation that would allow states to restrict the insurance activities of national banks. Page 3 REGIONAL BANKING: Banc One reported net income of $303 million, or 75 cents a share for the first quarter, signaling it is back on track after taking a $220 million hit three months earlier to restructure its balance sheet. Page 5 CHASE MANHATTAN has named Donald L. Boudreau and E. Michel Kruse vice chairmen. Mr. Boudreau will oversee Chase's U.S. retail business and Mr. Kruse will head up the bank's worldwide wholesale and private banking operations. Page 4 MORTGAGES: SINCE PASSAGE of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act in 1974, government officials and lobbyists have been debating how to define a legitimate relationship between real estate brokers and lenders. Page 8 KEYCORP TURNED more than a few heads earlier this month by hiring as chief of a start-up finance company R. Harold Owens, a big name in the booming business of making home equity loans to people with blemished credit histories. Page 8 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: BANK TRUST departments will soon have a new marketing option for wooing customers away from better-known financial firms with sharper images. Page 15 TECHNOLOGY: WITH A KEY executive change in its health-care services area completed, Equifax Inc. is moving to expand revenues by making some formerly independent units work more closely with one another. Page 16 THE MOST important challenge faced by banks that choose to deal in derivatives, Ellen Clarke writes, is integrating systems and data across front-office and operational areas and different types of risk. Page 16 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: SOME RESIDENTIAL telephone customers in New York are getting preapproved offers in the mail for the Nynex Visa card from Chase Manhattan. The no-fee card will have a 9.9% introductory interest rate for a year, with rebates redeemable for cash or discounts on the Baby Bell's service. Page 18 CHASE MANHATTAN Corp.'s credit card business is not for sale, despite speculation that a significant investor might be out to break up the New York bank's various business units. Page 18