Today's News

WASHINGTON H.F. Ahmanson is complaining to federal regulators about the way Washington Mutual wants to structure its acquisition of Great Western Financial. Page 2 Clinton administration officials claim the contentious question of mixing banking and commerce is a political call that only Congress can make. Page 4 REGIONAL BANKING PNC replaced a veteran banker at the helm of its flagship Pittsburgh bank with another company yeoman. Page 5 TECHNOLOGY Wall Street appears to be renewing its passion for a number of bank technology stocks. Page 7 J.P. Morgan has been using encryption software from Entrust Technologies with some of its customers to keep communications confidential. Page 8 COMMUNITY BANKING Hawaii's smallest bank has won its legislative struggle against the state's Goliath, Pacific Century Financial. Page 10 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS John G. Heimann, Merrill Lynch's top global executive, has been lobbying for removing walls separating banking, insurance, and securities. The former comptroller advocates creating an "umbrella" supervisor to coordinate the efforts of various industry regulators. Page 16 The most successful bank investment programs have branch sales forces as well as dedicated brokers, a study shows. Page 17 MORTGAGES MGIC Investment, the nation's largest mortgage insurer, will buy back as much as $250 million of its common stock. Page 14 HomeSide unveiled a Web site for its correspondents and brokers. Page 15 CORPORATE FINANCE CIBC Wood Gundy Securities is building up its high-yield group with a new acquisition finance unit that will focus on the middle market. Page 18 CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs As it moves to spin off a recently acquired unit, Equifax is being entangled in a dispute over an alleged breach of privacy. Page 20 MARKET MONITOR Despite powerful investor Michael F. Price's recently revealed 7% stake in Advanta, Wall Street analysts remain cool toward shares of monoline credit card issuers. Page 25 WEEKLY REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS Evidence is scarce for an impending small-business credit crunch due to bank mergers, and Fed Governor Laurence Meyer said he doesn't expect one. Page 13