WASHINGTON
SELECTING A SUCCESSOR to OTS Director Jonathan L. Fiechter may involve more than just finding someone with agency experience - there's also party affiliation to consider. Page 2
THE OCC, in a new draft, has toned down its insurance sales guidelines, ceding some ground to state insurance commissioners. Page 2
REGIONAL BANKING
COMERICA appears to be headed for trial in a $7 million lawsuit filed in federal court by a Michigan company claiming that a Comerica banker led it down the road to bankruptcy. Page 5
FINANCE
THOUGH REGULATORS and practitioners are embracing the value- at-risk concept as a risk measurement tool, managers must be wary of its potential inadequacies, consultants Donald R. van Deventer and Jonathan W. Levin write. Page 31
CHASE MANHATTAN has closed syndication of a $2 billion loan for wireless communications firm Sprint Spectrum. James B. Lee Jr., head of global investment banking at Chase, said, "We knew all along that we had a terrific client group and a terrific bank deal, and so we were highly confident through the entire syndication of achieving this outcome." Back page
COMMUNITY BANKING
FARM BANKRUPTCIES have inched up, as weather and economic factors took their toll in some parts of the country - and as the stigma of bankruptcy has diminished. Page 8
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
ALLIANCE CAPITAL Management continues to have a hefty exposure to Argentine bonds in its North American Government Income Trust Fund - a year after investors charged that the fund's name is misleading. Page 16
BARNETT is offering its first international mutual funds portfolio, with stock purchases based on line of business rather than on location. Page 16
BANKERS TRUST has hired domestic stock veteran Leo Grohowski from HSBC Americas to head asset allocation strategies for its U.S. investment group. Page 17
FIRST UNION plans to buy Boston-based Keystone Investments for about $183 million. Page 17
TECHNOLOGY
BANK TECHNOLOGY stocks were mixed last week as economic data suggested no drastic Fed action to curb inflation, but many investors remained cautious. Page 18
EQUIFAX is selling its Health EDI Services subsidiary to National Data, a provider of information services. Page 18
TWO SOFTWARE companies are teaming up to create a system through which bank tellers and platform personnel can get better on-line access to customer information files. Page 20
MARKET MONITOR
BANK STOCK investors should remain calm about the possibility that another round of Fed tightening is on the way shortly, analysts say. Page 25
