Today's News

WASHINGTON

Lawmakers will not approve funding for a world rescue of troubled Asian economies unless banks take a "meaningful" financial hit, Rep. John J. LaFalce says. Page 2

Mercantile Bank in St. Louis, among the first large banks to be examined under new CRA rules, still has not received its rating - seven months after activists used the new procedures to challenge its record. Page 2

REGIONAL BANKING

Activists are trying to block a New York merger deal, claiming the would-be buyer has an "abysmal" lending record in low-income urban communities. Page 4

To create a unified brand image, BankBoston has consolidated its U.S. advertising business with one agency. Page 5

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

A small bank in upstate New York is jumping into the mutual fund market. Canandaigua National will start selling new two proprietary funds through a distributor. Page 8

CORPORATE FINANCE

Expanded corporate finance product menus helped some of the nation's largest banks offset shrinking margins in the traditional commercial lending business last year. Page 9

CREDIT/DEBIT/ATMs

CARD FRONTIERS: A senior Visa executive is holding open the possibility that the two bank card associations' smart card programs can find some technical common ground. Page 10

First Data Corp., its stock lagging, has reorganized its merchant processing unit, pushing aside the division's chief architect, Roger Peirce. Page 11

TECHNOLOGY

IBM's top two financial industry executives have left the company. Robert M. Howe, general manager of the worldwide banking, finance, and securities group, and Anette Kolenda, who reported to him as general manager for North America, took new jobs this week at privately held technology companies. Page 12

Houston Municipal Employees Federal Credit Union has installed a biometric system that lets it identify retail customers by their fingerprints. Page 16

MORTGAGES

Wells Fargo Bank may be looking to sell part of its servicing portfolio. Page 17

HOME EQUITY: A series of earnings bombshells have cut stock prices in the specialty finance sector in half in recent months, leaving boosters to tout the companies as bargain acquisition candidates. But so far no one is buying. Page 18

MARKET MONITOR

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