Today's News

WASHINGTON

The FDIC overstated expected losses last year and so added more reserves than necessary, the GAO says. Page 2

House Banking Committee members are expected to grill Treasury officials Thursday about how well the government tracks U.S. currency circulating abroad. Page 3

REGIONAL BANKING

SunTrust's earnings rose 8.7% in the second quarter to another record for the Atlanta-based bank. Page 6

COMMUNITY BANKING

Though no recession is in sight, bankers should install early warning systems now, Anat Bird writes. Page 7

CORPORATE FINANCE

More foreign banks see underwriting asset-backed securities as their way of breaking into the close-knit world of Wall Street. Page 8

MORTGAGES

Thrifts plan a dramatic shift away from home loans, a survey found. Only 30%, for example, expect to be originating first mortgages for their own portfolios five years from now. Page 17

HOME EQUITY: Associates First Capital, the nation's second-largest consumer finance company, has grown fast in the past five years and expects to grow even faster in the next five. Its formula: relentlessly hands-on customer service. It's "a 1950s-style throwback finance company," one analyst says. Page 16

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

E-Trade, the on-line brokerage, says it will enhance security by giving all its customers digital certificates developed with Verisign. Page 9

PNC has a new wrinkle on service guarantees: It is offering $500 to any charity chosen by a private banking customer who expresses dissatisfaction. So far, PNC says, not one has. Page 9

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

CARD FRONTIERS: First Union is testing at a small North Carolina college a hybrid campus card system based on one pioneered at giant Florida State. Page 10

TECHNOLOGY

Discover and Schwab on-line brokerage customers will soon be able to view data from multiple financial institutions on a single computer screen, using software written to the OFX standard. Page 14

The year-2000 problem has many computer services executives fixated on Jan. 1, 2000, but two other datesare competing for attention. Page 15

MARKET MONITOR

Issuance of asset-backed securities dipped in the first half as card issuers withdrew from the market. Page 26

Zions Bancorp is paying $173 million in stock for the parent of Grossmont Bank in San Diego. Page 26

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