Today's News

WASHINGTON

The State Farm insurance empire applied for a thrift charter to market banking services to its 66 million policyholders.

Bank revenues from securities trading soared nearly 28% in the first quarter to a record $2.38 billion, the OCC said.

REGIONAL BANKING

In a bid to take advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Comerica said it may set up a separately capitalized bank in Canada.

MORTGAGES

HOME EQUITY: Shares of home equity lenders have come roaring back, fueled by merger speculation.

Norwest is expanding its menu of nonconventional mortgages, adding prepayment-penalty loans and a home equity line of credit for correspondents.

CORPORATE FINANCE

Natwest Markets assembled a $300 million high-yield bond and bank loan package for National Tobacco.

Middle-market companies are itching to gain access to the capital markets, and commercial banks are well positioned to provide it, a study found. "That's where the commercial banks are going to get the business," a researcher says. "They're not going to displace Goldman Sachs with the Fortune 500 companies."

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

The combination of Scudder, Stevens & Clark and Zurich Kemper Investments will create a fund giant. What remains to be seen is whether it will be better as well as bigger.

Citizens Bank of Flint, Mich., snagged a high-performing value equity investment manager to help run its proprietary mutual fund.

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

CARD FRONTIERS: Gemplus Group, the French smart card maker, consolidated its North and South America divisions under a single president.

First USA agreed to offer credit cards for National Discount Brokers.

TECHNOLOGY

Digital Equipment is taking the wraps off an Internet-based payment system that paves the way for electronic commerce in denominations as small as one-tenth of a cent.

Banking experts say they weren't shaken by the highly publicized cracking of the Data Encryption Standard.

LETTERS

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