Today's News

WASHINGTON

The U.S. is studying alternative futures for government-sponsored enterprises, including termination and privatization. A Treasury under secretary said no one ever figured out how to end government backing once the private sector had entered a market the enterprises were created to foster. Page 2

Community activists are betting the arrival of two Clinton appointees will force the Federal Reserve Board to revive a plan permitting banks to collect data about the race and sex of small-business and farm borrowers. Page 4

REGIONAL BANKING

Dudley M. Nigg, who oversees Wells Fargo's electronic banking services, says banks that refuse to confront technological change could quickly lose their position as financial intermediaries. "The question, he said at an analysts' conference, is "how are we going to make money in 1998 or 2005, when ... it is no good anymore to say, 'We'll figure it out.'" Page 6

z

Huntington Bancshares, a pioneer in telephone banking, has begun using 24-hour telephone banking services as a marketing draw in Florida, where its branch network is small. Page 5

COMMUNITY BANKING

The SEC said MSB Bancorp, an upstate New York thrift, must let shareholder's vote on a dissident's proposal that an investment banker be hired to help explore sale and other options. Page 7

Texas Banking Commissioner Catherine A. Ghiglieri has appointed 11 state bankers to a new commissioner's council. Page 7

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

To attract banks looking to spice up their fund menus, Federated Investors has launched an emerging markets fund and revamped four of international specialty funds. Page 8

Three years ago Eaton Vance started offering bond funds under a "hub and spoke" arrangement: itself at the hub managing portfolios, banks as the spokes labeling and marketing them. So far no banks have signed up. Page 8

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

In a complaint filed with the European Commission, Dean Witter Discover accused Visa U.S.A. of planning to bar member banks abroad from issuing non-Visa card brands. The plaintiff does not market credit cards abroad, but the EC filing suggests that it's interested in doing so. Page 10

Merrill Lynch has created a travel awards program for its cash management account customers who carry a Visa card tied to the account. Page 11

MORTGAGES

Relaxed underwriting standards in late 1994 and in 1995 have produced loans that are going into foreclosure unusually soon, according to a study. Page 12

What do First Union, Chase, and Signet have in common? They are among the handful of lenders that are pioneering in the securitization of home equity loans. Page 13

TECHNOLOGY

In the six months after Citibank ended fees for electronic banking - mostly PC-based home banking - 125,000 customers signed up for the service, more than tripling Citi's total. Page 14

Will techno-savvy borrowers seeking loans through electronic channels put traditional mortgage lenders out of business? The issue divided experts at last week's conference of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Page 14

FINANCE

BankAmerica stock has surged 15% since January. Behind the rise: the possibility that some western operations will be sold and the expectation of a major share buyback. Back page

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER