Today's News

WASHINGTON

After just 18 months as a top Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. official, William A. Longbrake is returning to his job as chief financial officer at Washington Mutual in Seattle. Page 2

REGIONAL BANKING

If banks are where the money is, fee generation is where the money is for bankers, according to a survey of pay at financial institutions. Bankers in specialized fields linked to fee income tended to benefit the most from the industry's increased emphasis on performance-based pay. Page 4

St. Louis' Mercantile Bancorp. seems not to be slowing down its acquisition strategy, despite lagging earnings in recent quarters. Page 4

COMMUNITY BANKING

E-mail is fine, writes Paul Nadler, but good telephone skills can provide the same benefits - and could have done it years ago. Page 5

Despite encouraging signs in the livestock industry, rangeland bankers say it could be years before their cattle-producer customers can rustle up some profits. Page 5

SMALL BUSINESS

Bank of Boston is looking to start marketing its new small-business credit card nationwide next year. Page 10

American Express is preparing to sell prequalified lines of credit to small-business customers across the country, a source says. Page 11

MORTGAGES

PHH Corp. denied rumors that it might sell its relocation business to HFS USA, the giant car rental-hotel-realty franchiser. Page 12

Buried in last week's convention hoopla was a provocative proposal by President Clinton that would dramatically expand the reach of HUD's FHA program. Page 13

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Provident Life and Assurance is looking to shore up its disability insurance business by selling its policies through banks. Page 14

Reaching out to banks in the Midwest, Legg Mason is buying a small company that helps community banks run their brokerages. Page 16

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

Consumer response to gold card offers hit a record low of 1.1% in the first quarter, a study found. Page 18

First Bank System has rehired EDS' executive vice president of electronic commerce and put him in charge of its powerhouse commercial card business. Page 19

TECHNOLOGY

Bank technology stocks were mixed last week amid new government figures that showed the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. Page 20

MARKET MONITOR

All that glitters has not been gold lately for Pioneer Group. Page 24

If consumers are so happy, why aren't they out shopping? Page 24