Today's News

Texas banker Richard Ware has sharpened the risk management tools at Amarillo National Bancorp. The story leads the first issue of Community Banking Quarterly, which will offer practical advice for executives at smaller banks and thrifts. Magazine supplement

WASHINGTON

A FORMER MEMBER of President Clinton's Secret Service detail has been tapped to head the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or Fincen. Page 4

NATIONAL/GLOBAL

Defaults by corporate borrowers nearly tripled in 1998, an S&P survey found. Page 6

A spate of issuers postponed junk bond offerings in the last two weeks because they were unhappy with the high prices demanded by skittish investors. Page 8

COMMUNITY/REGIONAL

Time is running out for Ambanc Holding. The New York company has until April 1 to find a buyer. Page 10

INVESTMENT PRODUCTS

Asset managers are lining up to get a share of Poland's pension fund business as the government's privatization plan kicks into gear. Page 11

MORTGAGES

Home equity lenders are in a new "fight for their lives," jousting with Freddie Mac and legislative initiatives, says the president of the National Home Equity Mortgage Association. Page 13

CARDS

New York State started its long-awaited conversion to electronically distributed food stamps and cash benefits. Page 17

TECHNOLOGY

Fair, Isaac's announcement that it would form two business units to serve firms in e-commerce and telecommunications failed to impress Wall Street. Page 20

DIGITAL FRONTIERS

Banks' ability to retain their reputations as guardians of trust may depend on the evolving Internet concept of a "privacy architecture," an IBM security expert says. Page 21

MARKET MONITOR

J.P. Morgan Shares jumped after an influential analyst listed the banking company among possible merger targets for Chase. Back page

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