Today's News

REGIONAL BANKING: THE PROXY FIGHT at Compass Bancshares moves into the courtroom today, with lawyers debating a claim by a dissident director that Compass filed "false and misleading" information in recent proxy materials. Page 4 SMALL BUSINESS: BANK OF AMERICA processes hundreds of small business loan applications daily in a Pasadena, Calif., center. Its secret: "We know how to make a lot of loan decisions very quickly," in the words of the center's manager. Page 5 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MUTUAL FUNDS are coming off one of their toughest years in recent memory, but you wouldn't know it from the turnout at one of the industry's premier gatherings. Some 1,460 mutual fund executives, lawyers, and accountants - 250 more than last year - convened in Palm Desert, Calif., for the annual meeting. Page 6 COMMUNITY BANKING: BOSTON BANCORP has replaced its outside auditor and legal counsel a month and a half after senior management was forced to resign. The $2 billion- asset company hired accountant KPMG Peat Marwick to help "improve operations" and respond to regulatory criticism. Page 9 MORTGAGES: ADAPTABILITY and a high level of customer service are the keys to continued growth in the rapidly expanding home equity lending market, top executives told their trade group's annual convention. Page 14 TECHNOLOGY: BROADWAY & SEYMOUR is providing its object-oriented retail banking software on Sun Microsystems' Unix-based workstations and servers in what the companies say will be part of the next wave in retail bank automation. Page 15 TO HELP ADDRESS the problem of finding skilled entry-level trust employees, the American Bankers Association's Institute of Certified Bankers is considering creating a certifying process for them. Page 15