Today's News

WASHINGTON

OTS Director Ellen Seidman called for an overhaul of the Community Reinvestment Act, saying the regulation may emphasize lending too much. Page 3

REGIONAL

National City is considering restructuring its underperforming transaction-processing unit. Page 4

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Mutual fund sales at bank brokerages have started to rebound as investors regain confidence in the stock market, bank brokerage chiefs reported. Page 6

COMMUNITY

The president of the nation's largest thrift trade group told its annual meeting that members must improve their lobbying skills if they hope to win legislative victories in Washington. Page 8

CARDS

Aggressive plays for transaction growth by Visa and MasterCard have spread fear among executives at regional electronic funds transfer networks-but not Richard Garman. "The trends in the industry are very supportive of our business model," says the president and chief executive of Electronic Payment Services. Page 14

MORTGAGES

Consolidation has helped thrifts become more efficient and has shaken up the top rankings in the last year. Page 10

TECHNOLOGY

Mellon demonstrated the ability to expand corporate clients' bill payment options. Page 17

DIGITAL FRONTIERS

ON-LINE BANKING: The Bank of America that existed before its merger with NationsBank won the top ranking in two evaluations of bank Web sites. Page 18

CORPORATE FINANCE

The junk bond market is roaring back to life after hibernating for a couple of months. Page 19

MARKETS

Citigroup and J.P. Morgan are among a group of investors putting $28 million into the biometric identification specialist Sensar. Back page

LETTERS Page 9

WEEKLY REPORT: INTERNATIONAL

In spite of shaky global markets, Citigroup's Citibank and BankAmerica are continuing their push into Latin America. Page 20