the ALL program has been run on this file
WASHINGTON
The FDIC will meet today to set deposit insurance assessment rates for the first half of 1999. Page 2
REGIONAL
Another top-ranking official of the old BankAmerica is departing in the wake of its merger with NationsBank. Page 5
COMMUNITY
Kansas community bankers want to derail a proposed overhaul of the state Banking Department. Page 8
TECHNOLOGY
Before the recent merger that created Citigroup, life was complicated enough for Mary Alice Taylor, head of Citibank's operations and technology division. A back-office restructuring of the old Citicorp is still a half- year from completion. But Ms. Taylor believes in the synergistic promise of the merger. Page 11
DIGITAL FRONTIERS
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: Signature verification is getting more sophisticated, with systems that make it practical to measure the appearance of a signature and unique characteristics of the signer. Page 12
CORPORATE FINANCE
First Union has begun buying environmental insurance for its commercial real estate loans instead of commissioning assessments by environmental engineers. Page 14
INVESTMENT PRODUCTS
INSURANCE: A New York insurance regulation designed to protect customers from brokers who churn accounts has some insurance marketers crying overkill. Page 15
MORTGAGE TECHNOLOGY
Citicorp Mortgage has joined other large and midsize lenders that have been going to outside vendors for origination software. Page 18
MORTGAGES
Amid setbacks for the secondary market at home, where investors have been retreating to safe-haven Treasury securities, Wall Street continues to seek out securitization opportunities overseas. Page 19
M&A QUARTERLY REVIEW
The bank merger scene is more uncertain, and with big bidders out of the market, deals are getting considerably harder to do. Page 27
MARKETS
Banker's Trust's balance sheet management activities could be complicated by the hit to its capital base in the third quarter. Page 34