In Brief (five items)

Radian of Pa. Hires Norwest Internet Exec

PHILADELPHIA - Radian Guaranty Inc. has hired e-commerce specialist Douglas S. Rossbach from Norwest Mortgage.Mr. Rossbach, 49, was named a senior vice president this week and is responsible for directing the private mortgage insurer's Internet strategy. He reports to Roy Kasmar, president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Rossbach is reunited with two fellow alumni of Prudential Home Mortgage, Mr. Kasmar and Albert V. Will, Radian's executive vice president and head of operations and sales. When Norwest bought the home loan unit of Prudential Insurance Company in 1995, Mr. Rossbach stayed with the company.

Norwest, now a unit of Wells Fargo & Co., had named Mr. Rossbach to lead its Internet marketing initiative in August. A Norwest spokesman said the company is searching for a successor.

- Marc Hochstein


Zions on the Hook for $100M Due to Deal

SAN FRANCISCO - Zions Bancorp reported Thursday that it expects to chalk up more than $100 million of unrealized losses for the quarter from its investment in merger deal partner First Security Corp., whose stock has dropped 50% in the last month.Zions holds a 4.8% stake in First Security, or 9.5 million shares. On Monday, the unrealized pretax loss on First Security stock totaled about $119 million, Zions said in a 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

A failed merger deal would annul a January agreement signed by Zions and First Security to sell a combined 68 branches in Utah and Idaho to BancWest Corp. In that case, Zions would also owe part of a $5 million fee to BancWest.

Last week First Security shareholders approved the deal, which has been under fire since early March when the company said it expected lower first-quarter earnings. Zions shareholders are to vote today.

- Laura Mandaro


Wit Capital Research Chief Got $5M Bonus

NEW YORK - Wit Capital Group Inc. paid head of research Jonathan Cohen $5.4 million last year plus options worth $10.3 million at current stock prices, after luring Cohen from a job as Merrill Lynch & Co.'s head of Internet research.The pay package, which included a $5 million signing bonus, made Cohen the best-paid executive last year at Wit Capital, an investment bank that specializes in the Internet. Compensation Figures for 1999 were included in a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


First Indiana Names Another McKinney CEO

INDIANAPOLIS - Marni McKinney on Thursday became the third member of her family to head First Indiana Corp. when the board named her chief executive officer.She has been serving as vice chairman of the $2 billion asset banking company since 1994. Robert H. McKinney, the previous chief executive officer, will remain as chairman of First Indiana Corp. and chairman of First Indiana Bank's board of directors' Executive Committee.

The McKinney family's service at the bank dates to 1934, when Ms. McKinney's grandfather, E. Kirk McKinney, reorganized the bank under New Deal laws.


Delta in Settlement Over Lending Practices

WOODBURY, N.Y. -- Delta Funding Corp. said it has reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal Trade Commission, resolving concerns about its lending practices.Delta, which had been accused in a lawsuit of targeting elderly and minority borrowers with high cost loans, said the agencies had okayed Delta's statement of its lending policies, and that the settelement required no financial commitment on Delta's part.

Delta, which denies wrongdoing, had reached similar accords with the State Banking Department and Attorney General.

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