REGIONAL BANKING:
FRESH FROM closing an acquisition that will increase Mercantile Bancorp.'s assets by $2 billion, officials at the St. Louis bank say they want the world to know they are hunters, not prey. Page 4
BANK OF BOSTON is selling off its two offices in Haiti as part of a strategic redeployment of capital into better-yielding assets. Page 4
WASHINGTON:
HOUSE REPUBLICANS expect bipartisan opposition as the administration continues to push for fees from state-chartered institutions on federal exams, but are warning bankers not to let up. "No one knows what deal is going to be cut," said the IBAA's Kenneth Guenther. Page 2
FRUSTRATED by his inability to work out a compromise between the banking and insurance agencies, Rep. Jim Leach plans to seek a floor vote on two key pieces of legislation. That would pressure the two sides to negotiate seriously. Page 3
COMMUNITY BANKING:
FOR THE FIRST TIME in at least three years, the nation's mutual thrifts outperformed stock institutions over the first half of 1995 in almost every major category - from return on equity to asset quality. Page 6
STATE BORDERS may not be the only thing rendered less important by the onset of interstate branching; big banks might find that belonging to several state banking associations is no longer worth their while. Page 6
MORTGAGES:
ECONOMISTS didn't want to say it, mortgage bankers were hoping against it, realtors were trying to ignore it. But 1995 turned out to be a horrible year for housing in California. Page 9
MANY LENDERS are having trouble bolstering their staffs to handle the pickup in volume as interest rates ease. Page 8
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS:
BANCORP HAWAII has embarked on an ambitious mutual fund marketing campaign that emphasizes selling its fledgling proprietary funds through nonbank brokerages. Page 10
LEANER DAYS could be ahead for money market mutual funds following a year of explosive growth. Page 11
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs:
A FEDERAL appeals court in Philadelphia has handed credit card banks another victory in their fight to overcome some states' limits on late-payment and over-limit fees. Page 12
CREDIT BUREAUS won't be divulging consumer risk scores anytime soon, but at least one major bureau is ready to add detail to its credit reports. Page 12
TECHNOLOGY:
CRAIG S. SPARKES, a veteran of more than 25 years in the cash management industry, has been named vice president of business development for the software vendor IA Corp. Page 15
AN AGREEMENT by Informix Corp. to acquire Illustra Information Technologies may help speed banks' development of risk management systems and data warehouses. Page 15
FINANCE:
DERIVATIVES dealers, who fear uncertainty even more than they dislike regulation, are becoming increasingly worried about the void atop the Commodity Futures Trading Commission created by the resignation of chairwoman Mary Schapiro. Back page
