Today's News

FINANCE: DUNCAN P. HENNES, managing director of treasury and funding, is responsible for reminding investors of Banker Trust's strengths, despite the buffeting it has taken recently. And he successfully brought to market two bond issues in the wake of a first-quarter loss. Back page WASHINGTON: IN AN EFFORT to maintain enough Republican support to pass regulatory relief legislation, House Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach readied new language restricting insurance powers of national banks. Page 2 SMALL BUSINESS: WELLS FARGO has started what is believed to be the first nationwide push by a bank to market small-business loans by direct mail. Wells is using data base analysis, credit scoring, and targeted marketing techniques to identify the most attractive prospects. Page 7 COMMUNITY BANKING: WITH LOAN DEMAND rising and deposit growth slow, community banks are scrambling for cash to lend, industry observers contend. So many have become net borrowers of overnight funds for the first time in years. Page 10 HAWTHORNE Financial, hoping to turn things around after a two-year decline, said federal regulators had given it until yearend to raise up to $20 million of capital. That was a six-month extension of the previous June 30 deadline. Page 11 INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: MILTON BERLINSKI of Goldman Sachs says the most surprising thing about the environment for deals between banks and mutual fund or money management firms is the "ferocious appetite" of buyers. Page 12 FEDERATED INVESTORS is coming to grips with a frustrating fact of life: Though it is the nation's ninth-largest mutual fund company and enjoys a high profile among banks, few individual investors know it by name. Page 13 MORTGAGES: REFINANCING is being encouraged again by ARMs whose payments may now exceed those for fixed-rate mortgages, and the mini-boom may be bolstered by those who missed the boat last time - and by prospective Fed rate cuts. Page 14