Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING

PROFIT IMPROVEMENT continued to mark big banks' second-quarter results, as Bankers Trust posted a 66% rise in net income and Bank of Boston a 13% increase. Page 4

COMMUNITY BANKING

PRESSURED by overcapitalization and market uncertainty, stocks of many recently converted thrifts are cheaper than at any other time since 1994, as low as 60% of book value. Page 6

RESPONDING to concern that Congress may eliminate federal thrift charters, Michigan became the 30th state to create a state savings bank charter. Page 6

MORTGAGES

CITYSCAPE FINANCIAL, a home equity lender and newcomer to the securities markets, has quickly become a Wall Street favorite, eclipsing many older companies. Page 8

THE CLINTON administration wants to expand a government program that lets older homeowners supplement retirement income with their home equity. Page 9

WASHINGTON

REGULATORS billed the new CRA rules as red-tape relief, but bankers are saying the changes caused tangles. Some loan data must be collected manually, increasing the chance loans will be omitted or entered inaccurately. "Unless you are living through it, you can't appreciate the effort it takes" to record the data, says Catherine Bessant, NationsBank senior vice president. Page 3

FED CHAIRMAN Alan Greenspan said growing credit card debt doesn't worry him because issuers are charging rates steep enough to compensate for large losses. Page 2

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

MICHAEL FREEDMAN, the marketing maven behind Signet's Blanchard funds, left the company. He founded the funds in 1986 and sold them to Signet last year. Page 15

FEELING a little edgy about the stock market? Calm down with a decaf cappuccino from the corner cafe and, while you're at it, open a CD account. That's what customers of Sterling Bank and Trust's "cafe branch" can do. Page 15

TECHNOLOGY

VISA INTERACTIVE's president and a senior vice president are taking new posts within Visa International so they can move closer to relatives. Page 16

FOUR OUT OF FIVE in a survey on the Internet said they would put money in an out-of-town financial institution that paid higher yields than their local bank. Page 16

FINANCE

COMPASS BANCSHARES stock rose after an upgrading by Dean Witter, which cited its bargain price and the possibility it may soon become a takeover target. Back page

BANK STOCKS surged after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that inflation is not troublesome and economic growth sustainable. Back page

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