Today's News

FANNIE MAE's electronic origination and underwriting technology, rolled out nationally this week, will "benefit everyone in mortgage finance with lower costs, less paper, and less time wasted," says agency vice chairman Frank Raines. Page 14 THE HEADS of three mortgage banking companies agree on one thing in their annual reports: 1994 was a difficult year. But the degree of difficulty varied widely. Page 14 COMPLIANCE: ELECTRONIC and wire transfers soon will be examined under the same money- laundering magnifying glass that the government has trained on cash transactions over the past decade. Page 6 MEMBERS OF three Middle Atlantic state banking associations convened recently and came up with some concrete proposals toward achieving regulatory relief. Page 7 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: GREAT WESTERN Financial Corp. has been slapped with two lawsuits charging that it misled customers about mutual funds by implying the products were as safe as savings accounts. Page 8 STATE STREET Boston Corp. would quickly achieve its goal of becoming an internationally recognized money manager by purchasing Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors, industry experts say. Page 8 COMMUNITY BANKING: AFTER WEATHERING a challenge from shareholders, Community Bank System Inc. is facing another opponent in its effort to buy 15 branches from Chase Manhattan - a community group questioning its lending practices in upstate New York metropolitan areas. Page 10 TECHNOLOGY: ONLINE RESOURCES and Communications Corp. has recently allied itself with two major state banking associations in an effort to build greater market share among smaller banks for its home banking and payment processing services. Page 15 AS PART of a major reengineering initiative, National Penn Bancshares is installing an integrated loan origination and platform automation system that is expected to increase productivity and improve cross-selling. Page 15 FINANCE: NEW JERSEY bankers are fuming over a new law that makes it much harder to hold accountants liable for negligence in preparing financial reports. Back page VALUE ANALYSIS makes the piecemeal sale of big banks inevitable - and everyone will benefit, writes Richard X. Bove of Raymond James & Associates. Page 18