Today's News

WASHINGTON

Regulators warned bank directors and officers that they could be personally liable if their institutions are not ready for the year-2000 computer bug. Page 2

COMMUNITY

To avoid losing a down-home feel, small banks should pack their Web sites with community news and event information, a marketing expert says. Page 7

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

The new president and chief executive of PrimeVest Financial Services has a mission: 1,001 banks by 2001. Page 10

INSURANCE: Hartford Financial Services has seta sort of home-run record, becoming the first underwriter to sell more than $1 billion of annuities through banks in a single quarter. Page 11

REGIONAL

Less than a week after telling his shareholders last spring that Firstar intended to remain independent, chairman Roger F. Fitzsimonds got a call from Star Banc and began talks that led to a deal July 1. Page 6

City National of California is fine-tuning its branch system to make it more attractive to business clients and wealthy customers. "We are not trying to grow simply for the sake of growth," said vice chairman and chief executive officer Russell Goldsmith. "Net, we're growing, but also we're trading up." Page 6

CARDS

NYCE will inaugurate a service in Massachusetts next week designed to make it easy for member financial institutions to join a surcharge-free alliance. Page 13

Banc One Corp. is taking a well-worn path to international card issuing: through English-speakingcountries. Page 13

DIGITAL FRONTIERS

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: To educate legislators and the public on advanced identification methods based on physical characteristics, four manufacturers of biometrics have formed a trade association. Page 14

Microsoft has turned over another of itselectronic commerce cards, this time with Diversinet, a Toronto-based data encryption vendor. Page 14

TECHNOLOGY

Internet banking initiatives are getting more respect from bank technology budgeters but perhaps not enough attention from strategic planners, asurvey found. Page 15

MARKETS

Fifth Third Bancorp agreed to buy Enterprise Federal Bancorp of West Chester, Ohio, for about $96 million in stock. Page 26

An early market rally in bank stocks ran out of steam as anxious investors awaited a possible Federal Reserve interest rate cut today. Back page

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