WASHINGTON
Federal regulators proposed dropping limits on the amount of mortgage- servicing assets that a bank or thrift can use to meet capital requirements. Page 2
Last week's aborted coup against House Speaker Newt Gingrich complicates the outlook for financial modernization legislation. Page 4
REGIONAL BANKING
BankBoston is offering to provide less than $20 million for a convention center in downtown Boston and, in exchange, could get naming rights. Page 6
MORTGAGES
Home Equity: Contifinancial is on a roll. It has recently aligned itself with or bought eight home equity retailers and securitized $3 billion of loans. Page 8
The two largest bank-owned mortgage companies, Norwest and Chase, reported solid profit gains, despite lower lending volume and higher rates. Page 9
COMMUNITY BANKING
An Ohio bank dodged a tax bullet by creating a charitable foundation before the tax code changed. Page 5
Larry Connell has been an attorney, a banker, a consultant, and a regulator. He's turned around several ailing thrifts and run a healthy bank. And now he's about to enter the job market again, at age 60, after his latest and perhaps greatest success-at Maine's Atlantic Bancorp. Page 5
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
First Union's planned acquisition of Signet Banking Corp. would add a small but nimble mutual fund complex to its burgeoning fund business. Page 10
George Mason Bank in Virginia is offering a full range of investment products and services through a partnership with North Carolina-based Uvest. Page 11
CORPORATE FINANCE
The influx of institutional money into the bank loan market has presented banks with a new problem: how to remain in control of the transactions they originate. Page 12
TECHNOLOGY
First Tennessee National is one of a growing number of banking companies basing its Internet offering on the Java computer programming language. Page 14
CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs
CARD FRONTIERS: Schlumberger put its electronic transactions division, which includes its smart card business, under a new umbrella unit. Page 16
MasterCard and Visa are reducing their Internet security message to a simple logo. Page 16
First USA said Jack Antonini resigned as president of its thrift, First USA Federal Savings. Page 18
MARKET MONITOR
Shares of KeyCorp gained on news of an upgrade by a McDonald & Co. analyst, who noted signs that a restructuring unveiled last fall is on target. Back page
