WASHINGTON
Thrift executives are eyeing some of the $1.6 billion in annual interest income being earned on the deposit insurance funds. What the FDIC does not need could be returned to banks or thrifts or used to pay off the Financing Corp. bonds, a SAIF official said. Page 2
REGIONAL BANKING
A peripatetic bank investor relations director who recently joined Banc One is taking the company's Wall Street rally in stride. Page 4
KeyCorp's northwest division recently formed an alliance with ChinaWire, a company that handles money transfers to consumers and businesses in China. Page 5
COMMUNITY BANKING
A Seattle credit union that accounting giant Grant Thornton accused of concealing material information agreed to pay it $700,000 in a settlement. Page 6
Activist shareholders appear close to killing a proposed merger of equals between two Illinois thrift companies. Page 7
MORTGAGES
A move to sharply curtail mortgage securities investments by credit unions is getting mixed reviews from Wall Street. Page 8
Short interest in the Money Store surged, apparently because the California company issued convertible debt in early November. Page 8
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
A former First Chicago executive known for his wise-cracking ways is now helping a large money management company draw up corporate plans for the future. Page 9
INSURANCE: Baltimore-based Provident Bancshares is the latest financial institution to launch an insurance program. Page 10
Nationwide Life Insurance is hawking single premium variable life policies to gain access to the bank broker sales channel. Page 11
TECHNOLOGY
Citicorp unveiled a cash management service that lets multinational corporations outsource accounts-receivable functions. Citibank Receivables Solution has been pilot-tested for the past year. Christopher Robinson, a London-based vice president at Citicorp, said that with the new service, companies can "take out a large proportion of their local accounts- receivable structure and replace it with a centralized accounting function." Page 24
BankAmerica developed several new commercial banking services for its large and middle market customers. Page 25
MARKET MONITOR
New reserve requirements for market risk have aroused complaints from big trading banks, but a Standard & Poor's study says the rules could have been much tougher. Page 29
