WASHINGTON
It's starting to look like the Comptroller's Office is winning the waiting game it has been playing with Congress. Page 4
The Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee celebrates 10th anniversary today. But the group of academics, lawyers, and bankers scarcely gets the attention it used to. Page 4
REGIONAL BANKING
What does it take to retain your most profitable customers - and guide the rest toward low-cost delivery channels like ATMs? Discussions at an American Banker forum last week in Florida led in one direction: information. Page 5
Wells, Citi, First Bank System, and Signet will be clear winners in the industry shakeout, says a prominent bank analyst. The signs, he says are focus, data base marketing, and cost reduction. Page 5
COMMUNITY BANKING
PREPARING TO BE BOUGHT OUT by Bank of Boston, Boston Bancorp has arranged to sell its $150 million commercial real estate portfolio to a finance company, BlackRock Capital Finance. Page 8
DEBIT UNIONS
THE CONGRESSIONAL spotlight once again is turning toward credit unions. A House Banking subcommittee will meet some time this year to follow up a 1995 hearing that explored the failure of Capital Corporate Federal Credit Union. Page 10
CHIEF EXECUTIVES at a National Association of Federal Credit Unions conference criticized a proposed rule by the industry's regulator governing investment decisions. It would require vastly more reporting and more board involvement. Page 11
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
While investors keep pouring money into stock funds, some bank brokerage executives are starting worry that bond funds are getting short shrift. Page 15
The NASD plans to build its broker education network to 280 training centers, a fivefold increase, in an alliance with Sylvan Learning Systems. Page 14
MORTGAGES
H.F. Ahmanson and Fannie Mae have each embarked on recapitalization programs in recent months, but with divergent reactions from investors. While the shares of Fannie Mae have climbed briskly, Ahmanson's stock has been flat at best in a rising market. Page 12
FANNIE MAE has shuffled the responsibilities of several key senior executives. It transferred the head of its western regional office to Washington and appointed new chiefs for investor relations and the housing impact division. Page 12
TECHNOLOGY
To rescue a deal that was apparently going sour, Hogan Systems, the bank software firm, has accepted a lower buyout bid from Continuum Co. Page 16
DEBIT/DEBIT/ATMs
Paul G. Kahn, newly fired as chairman of Ideon Group, the embattled card security company, tried in an interview to put a positive spin on the experience. Page 20
MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
THESE DAYS, retail bankers speak in almost mystically about building a sales culture. John R. Cochran, chief executive of Ohio's FirstMerit Corp., just might make it happen. Pullout section
