Today's News

MORTGAGES: THE THREE top executives at Fannie Mae all made more money in 1994 than Freddie Mac chairman Leland C. Brendsel, according to proxy statements issued by the companies. Page 10 THE END of the 1992-93 refinancing boom brought with it one piece of good news for mortgage bankers: Prepayments have slowed to a trickle since then. Page 10 WASHINGTON: THE FDIC joined the other banking agencies by giving its official blessing to new regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act. Page 2 REGIONAL BANKING: CALIFORNIA FEDERAL Bank, demonstrating its nasty real estate lending problems are over, reported first quarter net income of $14.7 million - compared with a loss of $596 million in the year-earlier period. Page 4 SOUTHERN NATIONAL Corp., hammered by merger-related charges and securities losses, lost $12.6 million in the first quarter, compared with pro-forma earnings of $55 million a year earlier. Page 4 SMALL BUSINESS: FLEET FINANCIAL Group may face antitrust questions about the small business powerhouse it would create by buying Shawmut National Corp. Page 6 COMMUNITY BANKING: DEMANDING an end to "apartheid banking," a Philadelphia neighborhood coalition is calling for a federal investigation into the lending practices of New Jersey's Commerce Bancorp. Page 7 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs: CHIP CARDS are becoming a part of the plan for electronic benefits transfer systems. Page 16 AS IF electronic benefits transfer systems haven't encountered enough obstacles, a transaction processing company has thrown a lawsuit in their path. Page 17 TECHNOLOGY: IN A SIGN of its increasing emphasis on the retail market, Comerica Inc. has hired a chief technologist steeped in the electronic delivery of consumer banking services. Page 14 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: