WASHINGTON
Illinois banks are butting heads over legislation that would let them sell insurance there. The Community Bankers Association says the bill is the best shot banks have at the insurance market. The Illinois Bankers Association says it would impose too many limits. Page 2
REGIONAL BANKING
CAREER TRACKS: Rusty Page dreamed up a new line of business for NationsBank: helping other companies sell their stories to investors. Then he got another idea: to go into business for himself. Page 4
Minneapolis' TCF Financial plans to expand for the first time outside its Midwest base, following a supermarket partner into the Rocky Mountains.. Page 4
MORTGAGES
Citizens Mortgage in Rhode Island is close to receiving an offer for its $12 billion servicing portfolio, sources close to the company say. Page 6
Despite their initial resistance, real estate agents are getting involved in Internet and other on-line marketing projects, according to Realtors in San Francisco for their annual convention. But their trade group is eager to forget its first Web site ever existed. Page 7
COMMUNITY BANKING
New Jersey's IBS Financial is suing a shareholders group that's pushing for sale and fielding a candidate for director. Page 10
Shareholders opposed to an Illinois thrift merger are mobilizing to kill the deal at an upcoming shareholder meeting. Page 11
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs
First USA and its merchant processing subsidiary plan to raise up to $275.8 million by issuing more stock in the unit. Page 13
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
INSURANCE: Hoping to make life insurance more attractive for banks to sell, insurance companies are rushing to develop term policies with looser underwriting standards than their whole life counterparts.
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Sterling Bancorp has moved its headquarters to New York's tony Park Avenue, where it is flanked by private banking giants like Chase, Bankers Trust, and Union Bank of Switzerland. Chairman Louis F. Cappelli said he plans to compete with these behemoths by making loans ranging from $1 million to $10 million - too small for the larger players to service. "The color of all our money is green," he added, "so we have to sell something else, which is high-touch service." Page 18
TECHNOLOGY
Tandem Computers unveiled a line of server computers running Windows NT and customized for Internet transactions. Page 20
Wells Fargo & Co. is taking its lockbox remittance processing business nationwide. Page 21
MARKET MONITOR
Philadelphia's CoreStates Financial won praise from Duff & Phelps, which gave an A rating to a new debt issue. Duff cited a conservative credit culture and management's getting the jump on the need to improve efficiency. Page 26
