Today's News

WASHINGTON

The thrift industry is balking at a provision in the bill designed to shore up the Savings Association Insurance Fund. Page 2

Carolyn Z. McFarlane, the OCC's director for congressional relations, worked for Rep. Jim Leach in the early 1980s. "I learned about banking working with Jim Leach," she says. Ironically, she spent most of the current session defending her agency against him. Page 3

REGIONAL BANKING

Southern National bought a majority stake in a small technology company and aborted a similar deal with another one. Page 4

Chase signed a $1 million deal to become the new sponsor of the women's tennis tournament formerly called the Virginia Slims. Page 4

MORTGAGES

The mastermind behind a massive mortgage fraud more than eight years ago has popped up again at the center of an alleged scam that targeted minority churches and their parishioners, as well as other consumers. Page 8

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

The NASD has given the SEC a four-month extension to act on a pending rule that would govern bank broker-dealers. That buys time for bank brokers worried about complying with the controversial proposal, first floated in 1994. Page 10

Yet another mutual fund company, Alliance Capital Management, has combined its banking and financial-planner sales efforts into a single unit. Page 10

TECHNOLOGY

Swift, the international banking telecommunications network, wants to play a bigger role in trade finance and the exchange of related documentation. Page 13

FINANCE

Forensic accountants, known for their role in bankruptcy court, can steer banks clear of potentially troublesome loans and help them bail out of souring ones safely, an accountant writes. Page 18

Thrift stocks fared better than bank stocks Thursday after new economic data revived investor jitters about interest rates. Back page

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